Indian state passes law seeking death penalty for rapists after rape and murder of doctor

An Indian state, shaken by weeks of protests demanding justice after the rape and murder of a doctor, passed a law on Tuesday that could lead to the execution of rapists.

Protests erupted in West Bengal last month to demand justice for a doctor who was brutally raped and killed at a state-run hospital in the local capital of Kolkata, and to call for an end to violence against women in India.

The 31-year-old doctor’s body was found with multiple injuries on Aug. 9 in a lecture hall at the city’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the woman had gone to rest during a night shift when she was attacked. An autopsy confirmed sexual assault and multiple injuries sustained before she died. It also suggested she resisted and may have been tortured before being murdered.

The Kolkata Police arrested a volunteer member of the police force the next day and charged him with rape and murder, as the case drew national outcry. Medics across the country demanded safer workplaces while citizens demanded safety for women in a country with a shameful record of rape. 

India reported an average of nearly 90 rapes per day in 2022, according to the most recent data from the National Crime Records Bureau, although experts believe the real number could be much higher, since many rapes go unreported due to prevailing stigmas around sexual violence and a lack of faith in police investigations. Conviction rates remain low.

The new West Bengal law, passed Tuesday by the state assembly but yet to be approved by the president, expresses outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women. It is largely symbolic because India’s criminal code applies uniformly across the country.

However, presidential approval could make an exception and see it become state law.

The law raises punishment for rape from the current sentences of at least 10 years to either life imprisonment or execution.

The doctor’s murder sparked strikes by medics and rallies backed by thousands of ordinary citizens across India, although many doctors have since returned to work.

Protests in West Bengal have since transformed into clashes between rival political party loyalists, including the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Hindu-nationalist BJP holds power nationally but sits in opposition in West Bengal. It and the AITC both backed the new state law.

The gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in the capital Delhi.

The 2012 incident became a major political issue and was seen as one factor in the BJP’s subsequent success in elections.

Death penalties in India are often stalled by years of appeals. Executions are usually carried out by hanging.

contributed to this report.