Anti-rape Bill passed unanimously in Bengal Assembly. ‘Oppn should ensure Governor signs it,’ says CM Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata doctor rape-murder: The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government on September 3 tabled its ‘Anti-Rape’ Aparajita Bill in the state Assembly. The bill was unanimously passed by the House.

The Bill was introduced by West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak during a special session of the state Assembly, the agency added.

Titled the ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024’, the proposed legislation seeks capital punishment for persons convicted of rape if their actions result in the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state.

The Bill came in the wake of the rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Guv should sign the bill, says CM

Speaking on the bill, Banerjee said that the bill aims at ensuring quick investigation, fast justice delivery and enhanced punishment. She said that the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal should ask governor CV Ananda Bose to sign the Aparajita bill. “It is our responsibility to enact it after that,” she said in the assembly.

The state government had called a two-day special session of the assembly to pass a Bill proposing capital punishment for convicts in rape and murder cases.

The proposed legislation aims to strengthening protections for women and children by revising and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences.

Mamata Banerjee- led West Bengal government and the police have come under fire over the incident which was followed by nationwide protests.

The police had recovered the body of the woman's postgraduate trainee doctor from the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical Collegeand Hospital on August 9.

(With inputs from PTI)