Several activists, lawyers and women’s organisations haveasked the Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to not table the Shakti bill, as it is a draconian legislation that is fundamentally anti-women with the potential to negate the very offence of rape.
Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said last Wednesday that two bills will be tabled in the legislature, the Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2020, and the Special Court & Machinery for Implementation of Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law, 2020 to give shape to the law against perpetrators of crime against women and children. In the upcoming two-day winter session in Mumbai on December 14-15, draft copy of the bill will be tabled in the state legislature. The bills are intended to bring down the rate of crime against women and propose the death penalty, stern punishment, life sentence, hefty fines as retributions for the offences.
“While the Act is said to be made for justice to women it feeds into the patriarchal construction of consent and conduct of women. It goes against the statement and object of this Bill. In a lot of cases of rape, the accused take the plea of consent with such an explanation added it will become impossible for the prosecution to establish rape. Such an explanation negates and nullifies the very offence of rape,” the letter with 92 signatories from large group of feminist activists, lawyers, women’s organisation leaders and academicians working on the issue said.
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