KOLKATA: 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 after the discovery of a 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in the local capital Kolkata on August 9.

The law, passed by the state assembly but yet to be approved by the president, expresses outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women.

The new West Bengal law 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.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2024