Andhra Assembly passes Disha Bill to provide stricter rape offences

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Friday passed the 'Disha Bill' also known as the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2019.

The bill provides for awarding death sentence for offences of rape and gang rape and expediting verdict in trials of such cases within 21 days.

Earlier on Wednesday. the Cabinet under Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy approved the enactment of the Disha Bill.

The passage of the Bill comes in the wake of the incident where a woman veterinarian was gang-raped and killed by four people before they burnt her body in Telangana's Shamshabad on November 27.

Her charred body was recovered a day later. On December 6, all the four accused -- Mohammed Arif, Naveen, Shiva, and Chennakeshavulu -- were killed in a police encounter.