The Bill seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

On Wednesday, the anti-rape bill, brought against the backdrop of the intense violence over Delhi gang-rape, will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha.

Moreover, The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill-2013 was passed by Lok Sabha yesterday, provides for natural life term or even death sentence for repeat offenders of rape and other stringent punishment for various offences like stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.

According to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde while replying to a nearly six-hour debate on the bill that he wish to state that they are enacting the strict law to act as a intention to check and the bill seeks to replace an Ordinance promulgated on February 3, which will expire on April 4 while it seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

In fact, the bill was passed after all amendments moved by opposition and one by UPA constituent NCP for a life-term for perpetrators of acid attacks were defeated.

Shinde while underlining that the bill was being brought to plug loopholes in the law said that time has come to send out a loud, clear and deterrent signal that the society will not tolerate such deviating behaviour.

With an aim of providing a strong tending to prevent against rapes and gang-rapes, the Bill states that an offender can be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years, but which may extend to life, meaning imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life and with a fine and it has provisions for handing out death sentence to offenders who may have been convicted earlier for such crimes.

The bill, for the first time, defines stalking and voyeurism as non-bailable offences if repeated for a second time. Criminals of acid attack will attract a 10-year jail term.

The bill, for the first time, defines acid attack as a crime and also grants a victim the right to self-defence while it also has provisions for awarding a minimum 10-year jail term for criminals of the act.

As a concluding fact, while moving the bill for consideration, Shinde had consulted support of all parties, stating to let us honour the braveheart while referring to the 23-year-old victim of gang-rape by six persons in the national capital last year.

(AW:Samrat Biswas)