Indian President Pranab Mukherjee approved an ordinance strengthening sexual assault laws Sunday, with death as the maximum punishment in cases of rape.

“This [ordinance] will come into effect immediately,” a spokesman at Indian’s Home Ministry said. The laws will need to be ratified by Parliament within six weeks of the start of its next session, which opens February 21.

Under the current law, rapists can face sentences ranging from seven years to  life imprisonment.

The government proposed the move – a legal order by the government when Parliament is not in session – on Friday in the wake of public demands for stern action after the brutal gang rape of a student in New Delhi on December 16.

Continue reading : Indian President Approves Capital Punishment for Rape Cases

Source: (The Cambodia Daily – February 05, 2013)