-The Hindu The old Penal Code exempts it as an offence if a wife is not under 16 Opposing the death penalty for those guilty of rape, women’s groups have demanded that marital rape, stalking and stripping be regarded as serious offences. The old Penal Code and the proposed amendments exempt marital rape as an offence if a wife is not under 16 years of age. This exemption, totally and unreasonably, ignores the...

-The Economic Times CPM, which has conventionally opposed capital Punishment, has suggested enhancement of Punishment in sexual offences and proposed life imprisonment and even death in rarest of rare cases.  In the final draft of suggestions being sent to Justice Verma Committee, formed by the government to rewrite the country's rape laws after the horrific gang-rape, the Left party has openly called for capital Punishment in rare and brutal cases. According to...

-The Indian Express The CPM has demanded that the maximum Punishment in cases of “aggravated sexual assault” and “rape” be enhanced to rigorous life imprisonment till death and suggested that laws related to sexual assault be made “gender specific”. The party is not in favour of death penalty as it feels existing laws provide for capital Punishment in “rarest of the rare” cases of gangrape and murder like the Delhi incident. In...

-The Hindu A former Indian Police Service official, Amod Kanth, has been organising interface sessions between senior Delhi Police officers and juvenile delinquents as part of a reform programme that among other things aims at drawing the two sides together. His non-government organisation ‘Prayas’ is currently organising programmes for 100 juveniles to help the State understand the motive behind crimes and to curb their recurrence. “The programme has 25 per cent juveniles...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Friday endorsed the clamour for deterrent Punishment to offenders in cases of crime against women saying no leniency be shown while sentencing the guilty in such cases. The strong pitch for tougher Punishment for those guilty of crime against women came as part of a judgment, where a bench of Justices P Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi upheld life imprisonment for two sisters along with...