-The Hindu While the Delhi rape incident saw mass protests for justice, crimes against Dalits hardly evoke such outrage, which is why the killers in the Laxmanpur-Bathe massacre have got away The response by the state to the 2012 Delhi gang rape case was immediate and effective - a commission to review legislative protections and recommend amendments, and a new enactment. The judiciary responded similarly - death penalty for the accused and...

-The Hindu Equating juveniles with adult criminals is neither scientifically correct nor normatively defensible The August 31 verdict of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in the Delhi gang rape case, handing down a bare three-year custodial sentence to the juvenile member, has generated a fresh round of debate on the legality and desirability of juvenile justice itself: why should juveniles above 16 indulging in violent crimes not be treated as adult criminals?...

-The Hindu Lack of harmonisation of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 with those meant to protect children from sexual abuse has put gynaecologists in a fix. The abortion law guarantees absolute confidentiality to a woman irrespective of her age, while the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013 - put in place after the horrific gang-rape of the 23-year-old girl in Delhi...

-The Hindustan Times After months of debate on whether juveniles accused of heinous crimes like rape and murder should be tried as adults, the government, it seems, has finally come around to the view that the issue of graded punishment should be considered. According to news reports, the women and child development ministry, after discussions, has agreed to the view that juveniles who are between 16-18 years committing heinous crimes should...

-The Hindustan Times Amid the widespread support for the city court's decision to sentence to death the four convicts responsible for the December 16 gang-rape and murder, there are voices of dissent on whether death penalty is a deterrent against heinous crimes. Jurists opposed to death penalty and human rights groups expressed disappointment over the general euphoria on the death sentence, saying the tendency of looking for quick fix solutions to douse...