It comes after the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi in December sparked demands for tougher laws.<\/p>\n
Last month, the government introduced the new rape laws in an ordinance.<\/p>\n
After a seven-hour debate on Tuesday, members of the lower house gave their assent to the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill. It now passes to the upper house.<\/p>\n
The legislation contains new penalties for stalking, groping, voyeurism and acid attacks.<\/p>\n
However, Indian newspapers reported a low turn-out for Tuesday’s vote, even though various parties had pledged their commitment to making the provisions in the bill become law.<\/p>\n
The lower house, or Lok Sabha, was mostly empty when the vote took place, reports said, with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi – as well as other senior ministers – prominent among the absentees.<\/p>\n
One well-known MP – Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav – voted against the bill, arguing that criminalising stalking and voyeurism could result in more false cases being filed against men.<\/p>\n
The proposed new law will retain the age of consent for sex at 18 years.<\/p>\n
The age of consent had been 16 years for three decades before the government raised it in its ordinance in February.<\/p>\n
The government had proposed bringing it down to 16 again, amid fears that a higher age of consent would be “misused” by parents who disapproved of their daughters’ consensual relationships with boys.<\/p>\n
Some political parties had protested against a return to the lower age limit.<\/p>\n