No dilution in the definition of rape

While acknowledging that the Centre is in the process of widening the definition of rape to include all kinds of sexual assault,Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday ruled out any dilution of the definition of rape....

While acknowledging that the Centre is in the process of widening the definition of rape to include all kinds of sexual assault,Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday ruled out any dilution of the definition of rape.

The minister,who was responding to a query by Congress member Manish Tewari in the Lok Sabha during question hour,said the exercise was aimed at making rape gender-neutral. The suggestion for making rape gender-neutral came from a committee presided over by Home Secretary G K Pillai.

Chidambaram said the Home Ministry was seized of the issue of caste panchayats,and was working on a definition of honour killings. The members thumped their desks to laud the ministers announcement.

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Regarding a spate of supplementary questions by the members,Chidambaram said the police had been advised to act without bias and arrest only those who,in the course of investigation,are found to be directly involved in the crimes related to dowry and not the entire extended family.

He said it was possible that in certain cases the anti-dowry law had been misused,but the figures of the crime as well as conviction of its perpetrators showed high incidence of dowry killings. According to the National Crime Records Bureau,8,172 dowry deaths had been reported in 2008,which resulted in the conviction of 5,814 people.

These are appalling numbers, Chidambaram said,adding that he did not subscribe to the view that the anti-dowry law was being misused.