NEW DELHI — Offenders who rape girls under 12 may now be subject to the death penalty in India, according to an ordinance passed by India’s cabinet Saturday after a nationwide furor over the rape and killing of an 8-year-old girl.

In an emergency meeting, ­India’s cabinet approved an amendment to the law protecting children from sexual offenses that will set the minimum penalty for the gang rape of a child under 12 to life imprisonment or death, and the minimum for the rape of a child to 20 years up to a maximum sentence of life or death. It also doubled, to 20 years, the minimum punishment for the rape of a child under 16.

Read more