Class 11 student gang-raped in Greater Noida

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GREATER NOIDA: A class 11 student in Greater Noida was allegedly gangraped in a car by a relative and a school friend. The incident is said to have taken place on April 18.

Police have lodged a case against three people in connection with the incident. All three accused are currently at large.  

The girl was supposedly abducted after school and raped. Later, she was found in an unconscious state near Galgotia college. 

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet on Saturday cleared Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance stipulating stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 16 and 12 years.

The Ordinance provides death sentence for rapists of girls under 12 years. The minimum punishment in case of rape of women has been increased from the rigorous imprisonment of seven years to ten years, extendable to life imprisonment.

The Centre's decision came in the wake of a nationwide outrage over cases of sexual assault and murder of minors in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and Surat in Gujarat, and the rape of a girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh.

In case of rape of a girl under 16 years, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of life, which means jail term till the convict's "natural life".

The punishment for the gang-rape of a girl below 16 years will invariably be imprisonment for the rest of life of the convict. Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence.

The measure also provides for speedy investigation and trial. The time limit for investigation of all cases of rape has been prescribed, which has to be mandatorily completed within two months. The deadline for the completion of the trial in all rape cases will be two months and a six-month time limit for the disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed.

There will also be no provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of rape or gang rape of a girl under 16 years. 

President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday approved the Ordinance for changes in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

(With PTI inputs)