IPC · Chapter XVI · Of offences affecting the human body

IPC section 376DB in the BNS

IPC 376DBBNS 70(2)

IPC section 376DB, “Punishment for gang rape on woman under twelve years of age”, is now BNS section 70(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 376DB to BNS 70

Merged into sub-section (2) of BNS section 70, which covers gang rape of a woman under eighteen (IPC 376DB: under twelve). Same punishments: imprisonment for the rest of the offender’s natural life and fine, or death.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 376DB Punishment for gang rape on woman under twelve years of age

Where a woman under twelve years of age is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offence of rape and shall be punished with imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, and with fine, or with death:

Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim:

Provided further that any fine imposed under this section shall be paid to the victim.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 70 Gang rape

The part that carries IPC 376DB is marked.

(1) Where a woman is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offence of rape and shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and with fine:

Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim:

Provided further that any fine imposed under this sub-section shall be paid to the victim.

(2) Where a woman under eighteen years of age is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offence of rape and shall be punished with imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and with fine, or with death:

Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim:

Provided further that any fine imposed under this sub-section shall be paid to the victim.

The texts are India Code’s. The amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown. The PDFs linked below carry the full history.

Also in BNS 70

Other IPC sections that went to the same place

IPC 376D Gang rape → BNS 70(1)
IPC 376DA Punishment for gang rape on woman under sixteen years of age → BNS 70(2)

Old law or new?

Which one applies to a case

The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)). The repeal does not reach back: under section 358(2), penalties and punishments incurred for offences committed against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed. An act done before 1 July 2024 is therefore dealt with under the IPC section; an act done on or after that date, under the BNS.