New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday gave his assent to the anti-rape law ordinance

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday gave his assent to the anti-rape law ordinance so as to put a check on crime against women amid opposition from various women's groups.

The President has given his assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

The ordinance is based on the recommendations of the Justice JS Verma Committee. The Union Cabinet on Saturday had cleared the ordinance at the specially-convened meeting which went beyond the Verma Committee's recommendation by providing for capital punishment in the cases where rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in "persistent vegetative state".

In such cases, the minimum punishment will be 20 years in jail which can be extended to the natural life of the convict or death, sources said, adding discretion will be with the court.

After the Delhi gang-rape incident, there were vociferous demands for death penalty, but the Verma committee has not favoured it. But the Committee had proposed to replace the word 'rape' with 'sexual assault', which will also help to expand the definition of all types of sexual crimes against women.