After holding an emergency meeting with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, India’s cabinet has approved the death penalty for rapists of girls below the age of 12. The decision was taken in response to nationwide outrage in the wake of a series of cases.

Yesterday’s (April 21) controversial executive order, or ordinance, amends the criminal law to also include more drastic punishment for convicted rapists of girls under the age of 16, government officials said.

India launched fast-track courts and a tougher rape law that included the death penalty after an assault on a young woman shocked the country in 2012, but India’s rape epidemic has shown no sign of dying down. There were 40,000 rapes reported in 2016. The victims were children in 40% of those cases.

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