Amid a debate over introducing death penalty for child rapists, a forum for women farmer rights activists has said the move will fall short in curbing incidents of rapes as the implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the country has been weak.
"Instead of strengthening the implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee 2013, the central government has chosen to issue an ordinance, bypassing parliamentary procedures, to introduce death penalty in case of rapes of minors, further encouraging cycles of violence upon marginalised communities," the Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM) said in a statement.
"While prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence against women and children is already fraught with challenges in a patriarchal society, the endorsement of violent and exclusionary politics and laws by the present government further compounds these challenges and offers impunity to dominant groups," it said.
The government had last week brought an ordinance to provide stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of rape of girls below 12 years, amid a nationwide outrage over sexual assault and murder of minors in Kathua and Surat, and the rape of a girl in Unnao.