Indian Rape Laws-Skewed or screwed?

A news item in The Hindu that caught my attention. A man accused of rape was given the maximum punishment-life imprisonment, one of the rare occassions such a verdict was delivered. A very good friend of mine who lives in Bangalore, has recently started a campaign to crusade against what she calls mild punishment for a person guilty of rape. She wants life-term imprisonment for all convicted rapists.This made me think...Do the Indian rape laws provide appropriate punishment to rapists?

According to the Indian Penal Code, a man is said to have committed `rape’ when he has had sexual intercourse with a woman under these conditions:
* Against her will
* With her consent when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in, in fear of death or hurt.
* With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.
* With her consent, when at the time of giving such a consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication on the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature of the consequences of that of which she gives consent.
* With or without her consent, when she is under 16 years of age.

Where rape is proved, the minimum punishment is ten years for custodial rape, gang rape, rape of pregnant women and minor girls under the age of 12 and seven years in other cases.

A woman who has undergone the physical and mental trauma of rape, has to cope up with a lot of things; if not for the rest of her life, for a rather long period of time. More often than not, she is shunned by the society and in certain cases, ultimately ends up taking her own life. On a more positive note, there are some victims who have rebuilt their life from scratch and have come up in the society- something definetely worth being proud of.

Modern laws however are lenient to an extent that they allow a convict to be released( good behaviour also plays a major role) once he/she realises the gravity of his/her actions. Yet again, is the perpetrator of a crime of such magnitude pardonable?