New Delhi, Mar. 19 (ANI): The anti-rape bill or the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill-2013, which provides for stringent punishment for crimes against women, including rape will be tabled in Lok Sabha today.
The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, cleared amendments to the anti-rape bill, agreed at an all party meeting on Monday, paving the way for its introduction in Parliament today.
The latest version of the Bill retains the age of consent to 18 years as was in the Ordinance promulgated last month.
At Monday”s meeting, the government also diluted the sections dealing with voyeurism and stalking to “reduce gross abuse”.
Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath after the Cabinet meeting said the offence of stalking will be bailable on the first instance and thereafter it will be non-bailable crime.
Earlier, an all-party meeting held two rounds of discussions to iron out differences on some of the contentious clauses in the Bill.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi party (SP) and other political parties demanded that the age of consent for sex be 18 years and not 16 as envisaged in the Ordinance.
They contended that since the age of marriage is 18 years, the age of consent should be the same. (ANI)