The proposed path-breaking law to lessen the agony of rape victims will soon be a reality with the Indian government decided to bring the concerned Bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Act in Parliament during the current session . Completing trial of rape cases in two months, having women judges hear rape cases "as far as practicable" and recording statements of victims at places of their choice are some of the changes to the CrPC which are to be part of the Bill.
The Bill will have provisions of commuting the capital punishment of a pregnant convict to life imprisonment, a victim’s rights to appeal against acquittal, beginning of a "victim compensation scheme" (to compensate the victim or his dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of crime in any part of the country), audio-video recording of statement of witnesses and trial of cases through video-conferencing.
These changes are part of CrPC (Amendment) Bill which was first introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August 2006 and subsequently referred to the Standing Committee of the Parliament.