Indian panel recommends tougher sentences for sex crime
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In this photograph taken on Dec 29, 2012, Indian protesters hold candles during a rally in New Delhi after the death of a gang rape victim from the Indian capital. A government panel reviewing India's sex crime laws after the fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi proposed tougher jail terms on Wednesday but stopped short of calling for the death sentence. -- PHOTO: AFP
NEW DELHI (AFP) - A government panel reviewing India's sex crime laws after the fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi proposed tougher jail terms on Wednesday but stopped short of calling for the death sentence.
Gopal Subramanium, a member of the Justice J.S. Verma Commission, said the maximum sentence for gang-rape should be raised to a full life term, meaning convicts must spend the the rest of their lives behind bars.
"In gang-rape cases, life imprisonment should mean the rest of the person's life," he told a press conference.
Subramanium also read out recommendations suggesting maximum sentences of seven years for stripping a woman, three years for stalking, four years for groping and seven years for voyeurism, or spying on women.
