Anti-Rape Bill: West Bengal Assembly Unanimously Passes Aparajita Bill Amid Mamata Vs BJP Face-Off Over Kolkata Rape-Murder Case

Kolkata: Amid ongoing nationwide protests against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old female doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Sanatorium at Kolkata on August 9, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government tabled an anti-rape bill on Tuesday in the tip of a two-day special session of the state Assembly and passed it. The Aparajita Woman and Child Bill, often also called the West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment Bill 2024, is aimed at bolstering the protective measures for girls and kids. That's sought to be implemented by modifying and introducing new rules that specifically address rape and sexual offenses. The Aparajita Bill provides for the death penalty for people convicted of rape if the victim dies because of their actions or is left in a vegetative state. Notably, the bill became introduced within the West Bengal Assembly by Law Minister Moloy Ghatak.

Kolkata: On the West Bengal Assembly, CM Mamata Banerjee says, “…I express my condolences to the girl who became raped, murdered and to her family. When the RG Kar incident occurred on the night of ninth August, I was once in Jhargram. On 10th August, the body became found, and on twelfth… %twitter.com/TjTZS1gJnc

— ANI (@ANI) September three, 2024

In the heated bill debate, Mamata Banerjee implied that Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari may ask Governor CV Ananda Bose to endorse it. The BJP aligned with this, highlighting the stringent provisions for managing females’s and kids’s crimes already present within the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Suvendu Adhikari, wearing dual hats of a celebration chieftain and the Opposition leader within the state Assembly, mooted seven revisions to the bill.

“We want immediate implementation of this (Anti-rape) law, it would be some distance your (state government) responsibility. We want results, it would be some distance the federal government’s responsibility. We do now now not want any division, we fully make stronger you, we're going to take heed to the Chief Minister’s statement very without difficulty, she's going so so you might claim whatever she wants but take into account to guarantee that this bill may perhaps also be implemented right away…,” Adhikari said.

In light of the ongoing protest and outrage sparked by the horrific sexual assault and killing of a medical intern in Kolkata back in August, a important two-day convening of the Assembly became initiated on Monday. The proposed bill concerning this matter is anticipated to be debated for roughly a couple of hours. BJP representatives Sikha Chatterjee and Agnimitra Paul are slated to deliver their speeches within the Assembly regarding this pressing issue.