Amnesty International on Tuesday condemned the recently passed the Indian state of West Bengal’s Aprajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, which introduces the death penalty for rape cases that result in the victim’s death or leave them in a vegetative state. The bill, passed unanimously by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on September 3, 2024, received support from both the ruling Trinamool Congress party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The bill’s passage comes in the wake of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal on August 9, 2024, an incident that triggered widespread protests across India. The West Bengal government introduced the bill in response to the public outcry, aiming to impose stricter penalties for sexual offences and expedite the justice process.
The bill introduces significant amendments to the existing Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and other related legislation governing sexual offences in India. The most notable change is the imposition of the death penalty for rape cases that result in the victim’s death or leave them in a vegetative state. The recent case of the August 9 rape and murder in Kolkata would fall under this new provision. Similarly, past rape cases that shook the nation, such as that of Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse who was sexually assaulted in 1973 and remained in a vegetative state for over 41 years until her 2015 death, would also be classified under this criterion.
Additionally, the bill drastically shortens the timelines for processing sexual offences, requiring investigations to be completed within 21 days and trials within 30 days, compared to the two-month period allowed under the BNS, aiming to ensure swifter justice.
While the West Bengal government hails the Aprajita Bill as a “model and historic” law, human rights organizations like Amnesty International have raised serious concerns. “The death penalty is never the solution, nor would it offer a ‘quick fix’ to prevent violence against women,” said Aakar Patel, Chair of the Board at Amnesty International. He pointed out that neither the Justice Verma Committee, formed in 2012 to reform India’s laws on sexual violence, nor the Law Commission of India have supported the death penalty for such crimes.
Amnesty International stressed that systemic reforms, rather than harsher punishments, are necessary to address the root causes of sexual violence. “What is actually needed is far-reaching procedural and institutional reform that deals with the root causes of crime and puts emphasis on its prevention,” Patel added, urging the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the Kolkata case without resorting to capital punishment.
The organization reiterated its long-standing position against the death penalty, calling it a violation of the right to life as recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
