The Bill
The Bill
India already has the death penalty on the books for some categories of rape. Here's what current law says, what West Bengal tried to add, what we're asking for, and the strongest argument against us.
What the law already provides
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 — India's rewritten criminal code, in force since July 2024 — carries forward and consolidates death-penalty provisions for the most severe categories of rape:
- 01Rape of a child under 12 years
- 02Rape that causes the victim's death or leaves her in a persistent vegetative state
- 03Gang rape of a minor (under 18)
- 04Repeat offenders convicted of rape more than once
In each case, death is the upper end of a range — courts can also impose life imprisonment. It is not currently a mandatory sentence.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 64, 65(2), 66, 70(2)
West Bengal's Aparajita Bill — a precedent
In September 2024, the West Bengal Assembly passed the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, following the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College. It mandates the death penalty where rape causes death or leaves the victim in a vegetative state, life imprisonment without parole for rape and gang rape, and sets fast-track timelines — investigation within 21 days, trial concluding within 30. As of this writing, the bill has not received presidential assent: the Governor referred it to the President, and the Union Home Ministry has flagged the mandatory death penalty clause as "excessively harsh and disproportionate." We cite it here as a legislative template, not as enacted law.
Source: Deccan Herald — Aparajita Bill referred to the President
What we're asking for
A central law, not a patchwork of state bills stuck awaiting assent: mandatory — not discretionary — capital punishment for the categories above, fast-track special courts with binding investigation and trial deadlines nationwide, and funding so those deadlines are actually enforceable rather than aspirational.
The strongest argument against us
Several women's rights organisations, the Justice Verma Committee (formed after the 2012 Delhi gang rape), and the Law Commission of India have all opposed a mandatory death penalty for rape. Their case: there's no reliable evidence it deters sexual violence, and NCRB data shows the accused is known to the victim in the vast majority of cases — campaigners like Kavita Krishnan of the All India Progressive Women's Association warn that raising the stakes to execution can push someone who has assaulted a person they know toward murdering the victim to eliminate the only witness. We're publishing this because a campaign that hides its strongest counter-argument isn't asking for scrutiny, it's asking for applause.
Source: Amnesty International India