J&K clears ordinance for death to child rapists

Srinagar: Amid rising rage over the recent gangrape and murder of an 8-year-old nomad girl in Kathua district of J&K, the state Cabinet, chaired by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, on Tuesday approved the promulgation of an ordinance for death to child rapists.

Official sources said that the Cabinet, which met in winter capital Jammu in view of the urgency and seriousness of the issue, approved the Criminal Law Ordinance 2018 (Amendment) and Jammu and Kashmir Protection of Children from Sexual Violence.

The amended law would be at par with the Criminal Law (Amend-ment) Ordinance, 2018, the promulgation of which was approved by the Union Cabinet three days ago, and would provide for stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape of girls. All the six Cabinet ministers and three ministers of state belonging to the BJP were present in the Cabinet meeting.