India plans broader definition of sexual assault
Avnish Jolly
http://igovernment.in/site/govt-plans-broader-definition-sexual-assault-37134
The government has not given any time-frame by which the amendment
would be effected
Published on 03/16/2010 - 09:06:12 AM
New Delhi: The government is in the process of defining "honour
killings" and widening the definition of sexual assault, Home Minister
P Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha Tuesday.
"We are in the process of defining the honour killing," Chidambaram
said while replying to questions related to the caste panchayats'
controversial rulings on marriages in some parts of the country.
The government had stated in the Rajya Sabha earlier that a proposal
to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to deal with honour killings was
under consideration.
The government, however, did not give any timeframe by which the
amendment would be effected.
"We are looking at a broader definition of sexual assault,"
Chidambaram said when asked about the government's reported decision
to amend the IPC, replacing the word "rape" with "sexual assault" in
the existing law in order to broaden the ambit of crimes covered under
the sections and make the provisions gender neutral.
Quoting Home Ministry officials, the reports said "making sexual
assault 'gender neutral' will imply that the relevant sections of IPC
can be slapped on accused of any gender who has committed the crime".