The House of Representatives meeting has endorsed two ordinances; “Ordinance to Amend Some Acts related to Sexual Violence, and ordinance to regulate acid and other hazardous chemicals” on December 22, 2021. The proposal of those ordinances was submitted by the government for approval in the parliament during the meeting of the House of Representatives.
The ordinance to amend some acts against sexual violence (2078) has been amended by adding Section 219 of the National Penal (Code) Act, 2074 BS which has provisioned to charge the accused with NPR four to six hundred thousand as compensation to the victim along with imprisonment.
Some of the provisions of Section 227 have been amended. Likewise, in case of rape and sexual abuse, the accused will be imprisoned for three years and will be fined up to thirty thousand. Also, if the mediator is from the public service sector then s/she will be imprisoned for additional six months.
Likewise, Section 32 and 44 of the National Criminal Procedure (Code) Act, 2074 has been amended and some points have been added to them. It has been mentioned that if the victim appears in the court on the day of registration of the case of rape, then the victim’s testimony will be taken on the same day.
Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Chairperson of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives, said after this the victim will not be able to change his/her statement under the influence of the accused.
The bill specifies that those who make false allegations of rape will receive half of the punishment for the perpetrator.
Furthermore, the “ordinance to regulate acid and other hazardous chemicals” has changed five sections of the law including the National Penal (Code) Act 2074 to change the legal provisions against the perpetrator of an acid attack including imprisonment and fine.
The sections of Evidence Act 2031 BS, Judicial Administration Act 2073 BS, National Penal (Code) Act 2074 BS, National Criminal Procedure (Code) Act, 2074 BS, Criminal Offenses (Sentencing and Execution) Act, 2074 BS have been amended with the provisions related to acid attack, relief, / compensation to the victim and priority of the case.
According to the passed ordinance, the perpetrators involved in the acid attack and mutilating the body of the victim will be imprisoned for 20 years and fined up to NPR one million.
The previous provision assured imprisonment for a maximum of eight years and a fine of up to NPR 500,000 for those involved in that crime.
Also, it has been mentioned that if the acid attack victim dies during the period of one year, it will be considered equal to killing. As mentioned in the ordinance, from now the crime of acid attack will not be overlooked.
Now, the attempt of acid attack will result in imprisonment of five to seven years and a fine of NPR three hundred thousand.
A separate ordinance has been issued to manage the export/import, production, storage, and sale of acid.
Anyone who exports or imports acid without permission will be fined NPR fifty thousand to NRs one hundred thousand and will be imprisoned for three months to one year.
Now onwards, no one will be allowed to raise funds for the victims through campaigns and the government will cover all the medical expenditure of the victims.
The ordinance issued by the previous government was automatically dismissed as it could not be presented in the parliament within the deadline.