Sunday October 4 11:28 AM EDT
India Considers Death for Rapists
By NEELESH MISRA Associated Press Writer

NEW DELHI, India _ Hemmed in by increasing protests over the rape of four
Catholic nuns in a village convent, India's interior minister announced
Sunday the government would consider legislating the death sentence for
rapists.

Lal Krishna Advani told United News of India that the federal government
would consult the legislatures of India's 31 states and federally
administered territories before making the required changes in criminal
laws.

``There is a feeling of public outrage whenever a woman is raped, and the
minister is articulating his views to gauge public opinion,'' Home
Secretary B.P. Singh told The Associated Press.

Singh said the changes in rape laws had been part of regular discussions
between federal and provincial officials.

Touring the central state of Madhya Pradesh _ where the alleged rapes took
place _ Advani said declining moral values led to the rape of a 90-year-old
woman and a four-year-old girl in two recent incidents.

Advani, considered a hard-liner in his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party, has ordered officials to ensure the guilty were punished
immediately, newspapers reported.

``The rape of the nuns was such an outrageous and heinous incident _ it has
given further support to the idea that rapists should die,'' the home
secretary said.

Thousands of Indian Catholics and members of women's groups staged street
protests most of last week demanding that federal investigators probe the
alleged rapes.

Intruders brandishing swords and canes allegedly dragged four nuns to a
farm field and raped them in Nawapada village, police and Christian groups
said.

The maximum punishment under Indian law for rape is 10 years hard labor in
jail, which is not a sufficient deterrent, Advani had told Parliament
during a debate in July on rising crime against women.

Indian laws currently provide for capital punishment only in cases of
murder and drug trafficking.

Few women in India complain to the police about rape, fearing loss of face
in society and lack of confidentiality.

Women's groups have also demanded changes in laws so that victims do not
have to undergo humiliating cross-examination.