Indian panel seeks tougher penalties

An Indian panel set up after a student was fatally gang-raped on a bus yesterday recommended new, tougher penalties for sexual crimes but stopped short of calling for the death sentence.
Commission member Gopal Subramanium said all gang rapes should be punishable by life imprisonment that "should mean the rest of the person's life". The penal code currently stipulates gang rapists face a minimum 10 years to a life term.
The panel was established following the brutal attack on the 23-year-old student in mid-December that sparked violent street protests over the lack of safety for women and impassioned calls for harsher laws to punish rapists.
The panel said its main focus had been to prevent widespread sexual crime in India rather than just to prescribe punishments.
"We need a correction of the societal mindsets. Deficiencies can be overcome by our leaders, the judiciary and the police," panel head and former chief justice of India JS Verma said.
The panel urged stronger punishment for trafficking of women and children and crimes such as groping, stalking, unsolicited sexual contact and voyeurism.
Verma added that local communities should name special magistrates to deal with "street romeos" who harass women.
Though sexual harassment is commonplace in India, the student's gang rape has touched a public nerve, sparking an outpouring of criticism about the systemic mistreatment of women in Indian society.
The woman, who was also assaulted with an iron rod, died of massive internal injuries 13 days after the December 16 attack, prompting widespread public demands for India to introduce the death penalty for rapists.
"We did not recommend the death penalty because we received overwhelming suggestions against it," including from women's groups, said Verma.