Kolkata, May 9: Two minor girls were allegedly gang-raped repeatedly for two months in Kolkata's Gobindapur area. The victims said that they had repeatedly been raped by a security guard and his friend. Both the accused have been arrested, and a case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In the recent past, there has been a surge in sexual crimes against minors.

In January, an eight-year-old girl, who belonged to a nomadic Muslim tribe in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, was allegedly abducted, drugged, gang-raped, tortured and killed.

In Indore, an infant below the age of one was allegedly raped and killed.

Taking cognizance of such crimes, President Ram Nath Kovind, on April 22, promulgated the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, for effective deterrence against the commission of rape.

The ordinance seeks the death penalty for the rapists of girls below 12 years of age and stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape particularly of girls below 16 years, thereby strengthening the POCSO Act.