Bengal's Aparajita Woman and Child Bill explained

India Today

This legislation, aimed at strengthening protection for women and children, proposes stricter penalties for sexual offences compared to the central Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) of 2023. The Aparjita Bill mandates life imprisonment or death penalty for rape, while the BNS prescribes a minimum 10-year sentence.

Transcript

00:00Bengal is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

00:03The horrific rape of a student inside a government law college in Kolkata

00:07has left the nation shocked and enraged

00:10and has brought back memories of the 2024 R.J. Kaur Medical College rape case.

00:15The uproar that followed the tragic rape and murder

00:18of the 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata's R.J. Kaur Medical College

00:22forced the Mamata government to introduce the Aparjita bill.

00:26The incident sent shockwaves through the state

00:28leading to the Bengal government coming up with legislation

00:32that promised stricter penalties for perpetrators of sexual crime.

00:36So what is the Aparjita bill?

00:38How is it different from the existing laws on rapes

00:41and why is it not deterring rapes in the state?

00:45Let's tell you about this bill first.

00:47It's called the Aparjita Women and Child Bill,

00:50the West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment Bill of 2024.

00:54The legislation aims to strengthen protection for women and children

00:58by revising and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences.

01:03But what exactly is the difference between the Mamata government's new anti-rape bill

01:07and the anti-rape provisions in the newly implemented

01:10Bhartiya Nyai Sanhita of 2023?

01:13Well, let's begin with punishment for rape.

01:16Under the BNS, which is the central legislation,

01:19a fine imprisonment for not less than 10 years,

01:22which may extend right up to imprisonment for life.

01:25In the Aparjita bill, which is in Bengal,

01:28a fine along with a rigorous imprisonment

01:30for the remainder of the convict's natural life or death is mentioned.

01:34So there's no mention of 10 years.

01:36It's directly remainder of the convict's natural life, life imprisonment.

01:41What about punishment for rape leading to the death of the victim

01:45or even putting her in a vegetative state?

01:47Under the BNS, it's a minimum of 20 years of rigorous imprisonment,

01:50which may extend right up to life imprisonment or death

01:53based on what the judge says.

01:56According to the Aparjita bill, it is death as well as a fine.

02:00So there's no minimum 20 years,

02:02there's no minimum rigorous imprisonment,

02:04directly the death penalty.

02:07Now let's talk about the punishment for gang rape

02:09in the BNS and the Aparjita bill.

02:12Under the BNS, it's a fine as well as a minimum of 20 years

02:15of rigorous punishment, which again may extend right up to a life imprisonment.

02:20As far as the Aparjita bill goes,

02:22it's a fine as well as imprisonment of convict's natural life or death.

02:26Now, so what that means again under the Aparjita bill

02:29is that it's directly a life imprisonment.

02:32So clearly, the Aparjita bill has stricter provisions than under the BNS.

02:37The Aparjita bill also has certain sections

02:40related to the age of offenders that's been removed.

02:43This step will streamline the legal process,

02:45putting more emphasis on the seriousness of the crime.

02:48The bill further mandates that investigations into rape cases

02:52must be completed within 21 days,

02:54with a possible extension of up to 15 days.

03:02Now the legislation moved by the Trinamol Congress

03:05cleared the Bengal House comfortably

03:06with the support of both the ruling party and the opposition.

03:10But it still needs the President's assent

03:12before it can come into force.

03:14The President acts on the advice of ministers

03:17and it is the centre that will decide on whether this bill becomes an act.

03:21The TMC, of course, was a key rival of the BJP,

03:24which is in power at the centre

03:25and that's why the Aparjita bill has not seen the light of day.

03:28But there are other states also who've done this.

03:36In 2019, Andhra Pradesh passed its Disha Bill,

03:40where they amended the Indian Penal Code

03:42and the Code of Criminal Procedure, the CRPC,

03:45which was there then for the state to go ahead

03:47and enforce the death penalty on rapists.

03:50The legislation came after a 26-year-old veterinary doctor

03:53was gang-raped and murdered in Shamsrabad of Hyderabad the previous month.

03:57All four persons arrested for the crime

03:59were shot dead in a police encounter in that very year.

04:03Two years later, the Maharashtra legislature followed

04:06in Andhra's footsteps to introduce the Shakti Criminal Laws Bill.

04:10This is the Maharashtra Amendment Bill.

04:12They too had the provision of death penalty in rape cases

04:15and reduced timelines for the probe and trial.

04:18The legislations came in the wake of the gang-rape and murder

04:20of a 15-year-old Marathi in Kopardi village of Ahmadnagar district.

04:26A dastardly crime in 2016 left the Maratha community furious.

04:30The Shakti Bill came over five years later to address that rage.

04:34Both the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Maharashtra Assembly

04:37had passed bills mandating death penalty in rape and gang-rape cases.

04:42None of them have got the presidential nod so far.

04:44But even as the politics rages,

04:46it's the women of the country who are the collateral as always.

04:55Do you think it profits you

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