The Indian government is considering a proposal to create the country’s first registry for sex-offenders, officials say.
Kiren Rijiju, a minister of state in India’s home ministry told the upper house of Parliament this week that draft legislation is “at a primary stage” and a register would include information about those “convicted for offenses like rape, voyeurism, stalking and aggravated sexual assault.”
The database will likely include personal details of the convicted including their residential address, fingerprints, DNA samples, and identity card information like the PAN card with tax ID and Aadhar card that contains biometric information, Mr. Rijiju said.
By requiring sex offenders to register with police, authorities hope to reduce the chance that they will re-offend, officials said.
“There are lots of offenses happening, some very serious, some repeated. We are hoping this will act as a deterrent,” said a Home Ministry official.
India strengthened sex-crime laws after the gang rape and murder of a student in 2012 that galvanized public opinion against widespread mistreatment of women. The law now allows the imposition of the death penalty for sexual assault in some cases.
Officials are also considering whether to include juvenile offenders in the registry, Mr. Rijiju said.
The government last year amended its juvenile-offender laws, lowering the age to 16 from 18 for young people to be tried as adults if they are accused of committing serious crimes such as rape and murder.
This was in response to the 2012 case, in which four men were convicted of sexual assault and murder. The fifth, a 17-year-old at the time, was tried as a juvenile and sent to a reformatory for three years. The young man’s release sparked protests and debate about India’s young-offender laws.
