India is in a state of shock as soon as once more after the Kolkata rape and homicide of a trainee physician. Days later, a nurse was raped in Uttarakhand and one other nurse was killed in Uttar Pradesh in a suspected sexual assault case. Now, circumstances of sexual assault have come to mild from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu as nicely. A protest has erupted in Maharashtra’s Badlapur over the sexual assault of two minor ladies. Reacting to the protest, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi stated that the President of India ought to approve the Maharashtra Shakti Prison Legislation in order that no different youngster or girl faces this travesty.
What Is Maharashtra Shakti Prison Legislation?
The Shakti Prison Legal guidelines (Maharashtra Modification) Invoice, 2020, generally generally known as the Shakti Invoice, was launched in December 2020. This Invoice seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Prison Process, 1973 (CrPC), and the Safety of Kids from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) as they apply to Maharashtra.
The first purpose of those amendments is to strengthen authorized provisions for offences dedicated towards ladies and kids, particularly focusing on the discount of sexual crimes. The Invoice has been forwarded to a Joint Choose Committee consisting of Members of the Legislative Meeting (MLAs) and Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) for additional evaluate and deliberation.
The Invoice introduces vital amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Safety of Kids from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, together with the availability of the dying penalty for particular extreme crimes. These embody grievous harm attributable to acid assaults, rape, and gang rape.
The amendments to the IPC now permit for the dying penalty in circumstances the place the crime is especially heinous, supported by conclusive proof, and calls for an exemplary punishment. Beforehand, the utmost penalty for these offences underneath the IPC was life imprisonment together with a wonderful.
Moreover, the Invoice amends the POCSO Act to incorporate the dying penalty for circumstances of penetrative sexual assault towards kids underneath 16 years of age.
The Invoice additionally will increase the severity of punishment for varied offences, extending the size of imprisonment and elevating fines underneath each the IPC and the POCSO Act.
Additional, the Invoice launched a provision that made intimidating a lady punishable by as much as two years in jail and a wonderful of as much as one lakh rupees.
