New West Bengal law is largely symbolic because India\u2019s criminal code applies uniformly across country
\n KOLKATA
\nAn 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.
\nProtests erupted in West Bengal after the discovery of a 31-year-old doctor\u2019s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in the local capital Kolkata on August 9.
\nThe law, passed by the state assembly but yet to be approved by the president, expresses outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women.
\nThe new West Bengal law is largely symbolic because India\u2019s criminal code applies uniformly across the country.
\nHowever, presidential approval could make an exception and see it become state law.
\nThe law raises punishment for rape from the current sentences of at least 10 years to either life imprisonment or execution.
\nThe doctor\u2019s murder sparked strikes by medics and rallies backed by thousands of ordinary citizens across India, although many doctors have since returned to work.
\nProtests 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\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
\nThe Hindu-nationalist BJP holds power nationally but sits in opposition in West Bengal. It and the AITC both backed the new state law.
\nThe 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.
\nThe 2012 incident became a major political issue and was seen as one factor in the BJP\u2019s subsequent success in elections.
\nDeath penalties in India are often stalled by years of appeals. Executions are usually carried out by hanging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New West Bengal law is largely symbolic because India\u2019s criminal code applies uniformly across country 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-429196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n