President gives assent to Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013

New Delhi, 03 April 2013 [ANI] --- President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and it will now be called the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 19 and by the Rajya Sabha on March 21. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was moved in the Rajya Sabha by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde where he had termed it as a 'unique law'. Shinde had then said the purpose of the bill is to provide stringent punishment also for offences like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks and human trafficking. The Union Cabinet had earlier last month approved the amendments to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 keeping the age of consent for sex to 18 instead of 16. The demand for having such a law picked up after the December 16, 2012 brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in the national capital.