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A.P. Cabinet clears Disha Bill to ensure rape verdicts in 21 days
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- The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet recently cleared the A.P. Disha Bill, 2019 (A.P. Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019) paving the way for awarding death penalty for the offences of rape & gang-rape and expediting the verdict in trials of such cases to 21 days which would be tabled in the ongoing session of the A.P Assembly.
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- Cabinet also gave nod for:
(1) Introduction of the A.P. Special Court: for Specified Offences against Women and Children Bill, 2019, for dealing with offences against women and children, including rape and gang-rape, acid attacks, stalking, voyeurism, sexual harassment and cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
(2) P. Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019: envisages completion of investigation & trial in 7 & 14 working days respectively, where there is adequate conclusive evidence, and reducing the total judgment time to 21 days from the existing 4 months.
(3) Proposed laws seek to amend relevant provisions in the IPC 1860 & the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: to introduce Sections 354-E and 354-F in the IPC for dealing with harassment of women through social media & sexual assault of children.
(4) Under Sec. 354-E (harassment of women through social media, digital mode or any other form), it has been proposed to sentence the guilty to imprisonment for up to two years on first conviction and four years on subsequent convictions.
(5) Under Sec. 354-F (molestation / sexual assault), imprisonment is sought to be increased to a minimum of five years and maximum seven years.
Sources
The Hindu