Kolkata Murder Case: West Bengal Govt Proposes Death Penalty For Rape Convicts In Draft Bill
Kolkata: In a major development in the murder and rape case of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar hospital in Kolkata, the Mamata Banerjee government has proposed an anti-rape bill to be tabled in the West Bengal Assembly. The bill contains a clause mandating capital punishment for those convicted of rape if the victim either succumbs to their injuries or ends up in a vegetative state due to the crime.
‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024’ has been brought forward with the intent of improving safeguards for women and children. This is achieved by reworking current laws and ushering in new guidelines related to rape and sexual offenses.
Furthermore, the bill purports alterations to the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, specifically in the context of West Bengal.
BJP Demands Mamata’s Resignation
The BJP on Sunday demanded Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation asserting that she had failed to ensure the safety and security of women, making West Bengal the most unsafe state in the country.
Taking to X, BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya highlighted the alleged molestation of a nurse in a Birbhum hospital, a minor girl in a Howrah hospital, and another minor girl in North 24 Parganas over the past 24 hours.
“While West Bengal is in the throes of a spirited civil society movement, demanding justice for the young woman doctor, who was raped and murdered in RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, a nurse is molested in a Swasthya Kendra in Birbhum and now a staffer in a Howrah hospital tries outrage the modesty of a minor girl in the CT scan room,” Malviya posted on X.
He further questioned, “What will it take for Mamata Banerjee, the Health Minister of Bengal, to resign, so that men who are assaulting women with impunity and feeling protected start fearing the law?”
The BJP leader added, “Make no mistake, these men are running wild because Mamata Banerjee has reduced government hospitals to money-making machines, with criminal syndicates trading in everything from medicines to cadavers, hospital beds to doctor appointments. The ‘cut money’ culture gives these TMC men a license to rape and plunder.”
(With inputs from agencies)
