West Bengal’s Aparajita Bill Explained: Punishments, Politics & How It Differs From BNS Bill 2023

West Bengal is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, a horrific rape incident inside a Kolkata government law college — months after the RG Kar Medical College horror. In response to public outrage last year on the tragic rape and murder of 31-year-old trainee doctor, the Kolkata CM Mamata Banerjee introduced the Aparajita Bill - a stringent anti-rape legislation prescribing natural life imprisonment or death for rapists. But, What is the Aparajita Bill? The 'Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024,' the legislation aims to strengthen protections for women and children by revising and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences. But what exactly is the difference between the Mamata government's new anti-rape Bill and the anti-rape provisions in the newly implemented Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) 2023? But the bill, like similar laws in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, is stuck — awaiting Presidential assent. Critics say it’s being stalled due to political rivalry between the TMC and the BJP-led Centre.