New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): Giving India a strong anti-rape law, President Pranab Mukherjee signed the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday.
The bill was brought before the President after it was passed by the Parliament last month.
The Lok Sabha passed the anti-rape law bill on Mar 19 while the Rajya Sabha cleared it on Mar 21.
The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill provides for the death penalty for extreme cases of rape while the jail term for other rapes was made 20 years.
Crimes like acid attacks, stalking, voyeurism and the trafficking of women were made punishable under criminal law.
Flaying the law enforcers and calling for police reforms, the Justice Verma Committee tasked by the government to suggest stringent laws against sexual violence submitted its "path-breaking" recommendations on Jan 23 to the Home Ministry, calling for enhancement of punishment to life sentence for the crime while stopping short of awarding death penalty.
The three-member committee headed by former Chief Justice of India J S Verma submitted its report to the government a month after it was formed following a national outrage over the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old medical student on a Delhi bus on Dec 16 and her subsequent death from injuries.