The West Bengal Assembly has passed the ‘Aparajita’ bill, aimed at strengthening laws against rape and sexual offences. It makes West Bengal the first state to amend central laws addressing such grave crimes, following the tragic rape and murder of a trainee doctor last month at the RG Kar Medical Centre and Hospital.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hailed the bill as historic and model, dedicating it to the memory of the 31-year-old victim. The ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) 2024 introduces the death penalty for those convicted of rape and other sexual crimes, marking a significant step in the fight against gender-based violence.
Banerjee emphasized the bill’s potential to close gaps in existing central legislation. She said, ‘Rape is a curse against humanity, and we require social reforms to prevent such atrocities’. She urged Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari to advocate for the bill’s prompt assent from Governor CV Ananda Bose.
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.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, over the financial irregularities in the running of the facility.
‘There were irregularities in the acquisition of medicines at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital during the tenure of Ghosh as its principal’, according to the media reports.
A CBI official had confirmed that there was numerous evidence against the accused. Initially, the central agency took Ghosh to Nizam Palace and arrested him under charges of corruption and cheating. Previously, CBI had raided his house in connection to financial irregularities at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
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