Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister M.K. Stalin Introduces Bills to Strengthen Punishment for Sexual Crimes

• Criminal Laws (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeks to amend the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

• The second Bill amends the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998.

• The Bill proposes a minimum 14 years of rigorous imprisonment for a rape convict, up from the current 10 years.

• If the rapist is a police force member, the minimum rigorous imprisonment is doubled to 20 years.

• If the victim is a girl under 12, the minimum punishment is life term, with death penalty as the maximum.