<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; color: #222222; line-height: 18pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: calibri, sans-serif;"><br />''</p>''<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; color: #222222; line-height: 22px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 28px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cabinet has cleared a bill providing for stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi that the bill will be introduced in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.</span></p>''<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; color: #222222; line-height: 22px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif;"><br />''</span></p>''<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; color: #222222; line-height: 22px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 28px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, once approved by Parliament, will replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on 21st April, following the rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and the rape of a woman in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh.</span></p>