Indian govt approves death sentence for child rapists

NEW DELHI: India’s government on Saturday approved the death penalty for child rapists, after the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl and a series of other horrific sexual assaults caused nationwide outrage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a cabinet meeting to pass the measure on Saturday on his return from the Commonwealth summit, a government official told AFP.

Protests have erupted across India in recent days over the rape and killing of the young Muslim girl by a group of Hindu men in occupied Jammu and Kashmir state, increasing pressure on Modi to take action.

The attack sent out the sort of shockwaves that shook the country after the equally horrific gang rape of a Delhi student on a bus in 2012, which made headlines around the world.

India’s cabinet Saturday approved the ordinance amending laws on sexual violence to allow for capital punishment for those convicted of raping children below the age of 12, the official said.