MUMBAI: Drastic changes proposed to strengthen rape and sexual assault laws, so that women have more protection, will almost blur the difference between the two crimes. In fact, reactions to the draft bill, sent to the Union home ministry, have termed it "anti-men" with wide scope for misuse.

While there were indications earlier that the draft might propose a gender-neutral law, the draft uploaded by the ministry to invite responses from the public shows that the amendments specifically target crimes by men against women. Women activists told TOI that the proposals were long-pending and necessary.

Under the draft bill, if a man forcibly even puts his finger into a woman's mouth —or lets his tongue enter her mouth during a kiss — he could end up in jail for sexual assault with the sentence being no less than the punishment for rape, which is seven years to life. The draft bill also seeks a stricter age of consent, raising it from 16 to 18.

The proposals would drastically change the manner in which cases of alleged sexual assault are dealt with by the courts and law-enforcing agencies. Presently, any sexual misdemeanour less than rape, or forced sexual intercourse, is dealt with under the lesser category of molestation and the guilty face a maximum term of two years.

Legal experts have complained for years that Indian laws on sexual assault are extremely weak. The Union government then set up a high-powered committee to review existing rape and sexual assault laws. In March 2010, the committee finalised a draft bill for the complete overhaul of Sections 375 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which presently deal with rape. The ministry invited comments from the general public on the draft bill till May 15.

The bill mainly replaces the term ‘rape' with ‘sexual assault', which means that the current penalty for rape — seven years — would apply to a broader category of sexual offences.

Bringing sexual assault and rape under a single umbrella, the draft bill describes sexual assault as an act in which a man "penetrates" the vagina, anus, urethra or mouth of a woman with "any part of his body" or "any object manipulated by him". The draft bill excludes penetrations by objects carried out for hygienic or medical reasons.

Reactions from men have ranged from apprehensions that such a law could be used to extort money, to outright panic that the doors would be thrown open for false cases that destroy a person's reputation. Rajesh Kumar, a Delhi-based lawyer and "men's rights activist", posted a copy of the bill for discussion on the internet and said it had elements which made it "patently anti-men". Kumar worried that the nuances of the law could be used to file false cases against men even if a sexual relationship was consensual. He also said that the law was gender discriminatory as it recognized only sexual assault of women by men and not the other way around.