Story highlights India's Parliament approves amendments to the country's juvenile law after release of youngest convicted rapist

Traditionally, Indian law allows a maximum of three years in reform homes for juvenile convicts

India has actually toughened up its laws governing serious crimes such as rape

(CNN) A new legal measure passed in India could change the way teenagers are prosecuted in the country for cases of violent crimes, such as rape and murder.

India's Parliament approved amendments to the country's long-standing juvenile law on Tuesday, paving the way for the prosecution of suspects, as young as 16 to18 years old, to be tried as adults if they are accused of such "heinous crimes."

Photos: Protests erupt after Indian rapist released Activists hold signs and shout slogans demanding the death penalty for a convicted rapist during a protest against his release at India Gate in New Delhi on Sunday, December 20, 2015. Because the man was under 18 when the crime occurred, Indian law says he couldn't be given a sentence longer than three years. Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: Protests erupt after Indian rapist released Delhi police detain activists who were protesting in New Delhi on Sunday against the release of the convict in the 2012 gang rape case. Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: Protests erupt after Indian rapist released An Indian man shouts slogans as he is detained by police during the protest. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: Protests erupt after Indian rapist released The mother of the victim of the fatal 2012 gang rape that shook the country sits in a car after she arrived to join protesters in New Delhi on Sunday. Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: Protests erupt after Indian rapist released An Indian woman holds a placard which reads, "He is not a juvenile but a rapist, hang him" on Wednesday, December 16, during a demonstration to commemorate the third anniversary of the fatal 2012 rape. Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: Protests erupt after Indian rapist released Protesters shout slogans as they burn an effigy of the juvenile convicted in the gang rape case during a protest in New Delhi on December 16, the third anniversary of the incident. Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: Protests erupt after Indian rapist released The parents, left and center, of the Indian student victim who was gang raped three years ago join others at a candlelit vigil in New Delhi on December 16. Hide Caption 7 of 7

The move comes two days after the youngest convicted rapist in the horrific 2012 gang rape in New Delhi was released because he was just shy of his 18th birthday on the night of the rape. He served only three years in custody , a sentence that many felt amounted to a severe miscarriage of justice.

The freed teen is one of six men who repeatedly raped an Indian medical student on a moving Delhi bus in 2012, the victim's internal organs were damaged beyond repair, and she died of her injuries 13 days after the incident.

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His release triggered calls from a cross-section of Indian society to carry out changes in the juvenile law, initially drafted with the best of intentions and aimed at reform for minors.

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