Chandigarh, Mar 15 (Zee News): Haryana on Thursday joined Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan by passing a bill to give a death penalty to the child rapists.

According to reports, the bill for giving either a death penalty or life imprisonment to those convicted of raping girls below 12 years of age was cleared by the Haryana State Assembly.

Following a spurt in rape cases, the Haryana government had earlier said that it would introduce a legislation for awarding death penalty to those guilty of raping girls aged 12 and below.

“We will enact a law to provide for capital punishment for those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 years or below. Besides, we will make a request for setting up fast-track courts for dealing with rape cases to ensure speedy justice to the victims,” Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said.

He said this after laying the foundation stone for a sugar mill in Karnal.

Khattar said that though the police were dealing with such cases under the law, it had been decided to make provision for harsher punishment for rape.

The Chief Minister also urged the media not to create a sensation by publishing reports on rape incidents without verifying facts.

He said figures for the last year revealed that 25% of the complaints registered at police stations were found to be fake.

Khattar said that usually relatives and near and dear ones of the victim were found to be involved in about 75% of the rape cases. It was the responsibility of the society to create awareness among the people against such mentality.

As many as nine rape cases were reported in Haryana in the past one week, with three cases reported on Thursday itself.

On March 9, Rajasthan became the second state after Madhya Pradesh to pass a bill providing for a death penalty to those convicted of raping girls of 12 years and below.

The state assembly passed the Bill seeking to amend the Indian Penal Code with the insertion of new provision by voice vote.