India: Parliament passes death penalty bill for rapists

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India's lower house of parliament passed a bill on Monday that will see the death penalty handed out to anyone convicted of raping a child under 12.

The amendment to the Prevention Of Child Sex Offences (Pocso) act was made at the behest of Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, who said she believed this would deter sexual crimes against children.

It came soon after a series of high-profile cases against children, including the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Indian-administered Kashmir, and the more recent rape of a young girl in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Editor's Comment
A promising step for public schools, but...

For too long, the state of many public schools has been a source of shame. We have all seen the pictures and heard the stories of broken windows, unreliable water and electricity, topped by classrooms that are not fit for proper learning. The establishment of the Education Infrastructure and Management Company Ltd (EIMC) signals that authorities are finally ready to take this problem seriously. We must commend the government for this initiative....

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