India's Rape Conviction Rates Stay Low Despite 2013 Reforms

A brutal gang rape in Bihar has revived comparisons to the 2012 Delhi case that triggered the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013. That law expanded rape definitions and introduced death penalty provisions. Yet conviction rates have stalled. The National Crime Records Bureau documents persistent gaps between registered cases and convictions—a result of investigative failures, witness intimidation, and gender bias throughout the justice chain. Bihar exemplifies systemic deficits: under-resourced police, sparse fast-track courts, weak survivor support infrastructure.