Lengthy inter-ministerial consultations had taken place on the issue of lowering of the age of consent from 18 years to 16 with the Women and Child Development Ministry strongly opposing the move.
The bill retains a key provision of the ordinance under which if rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in a vegetative state, it can also attract death penalty.
The minimum punishment is 20 years in jail which may extend upto the “natural life” of the convict.
Provisions seeking strong action against those filing false complaints were dropped from the draft Bill, the sources said adding that there was consensus in the GoM that existing laws were adequate for dealing with such cases and it was only a matter of enforcing them.
