Recently India witnessed
gruesome and inhumane rape of a 23 year old in national capital which sent
jitters across the nation and shattered the very foundation of culture and
value that each one of us as an Indian takes pride in. This was followed by the
court’s verdict of capital punishment to four accused while sending one to the
juvenile home, he being a minor. This very verdict has once again raised the question
“Does Capital punishment acts as a deterrent to the heinous crimes and should
state reserve the right to take away one’s life?” Hereby I want to express my
opinion against the motion.
As soon as the incident
started gaining attention of the media, we all saw popular outbreak of public
sentiments holding protests at various parts of the country demanding capital
punishment for the accused. While I would not like to believe that judicial
system of our country gave up to the popular demand and mob mentality, but
somewhere we all knew the verdict. Yet did it deter the four youngsters in
Mumbai from gang rape of a 22 year old journalist just few months after the
Delhi incident? Possibly they believed that they either won’t be caught, or if
caught at all will be acquitted. This actually raises a very important issue
that isn’t the surety of catching the perpetrators and bringing them to justice
a better deterrent than capital punishment? India’s conviction rate in case of
sexual assault has been falling rapidly from 44% in 1973 to 26% in 2010. The number
of reported cases is manifold times low owing to the social stigma attached to
such crimes. There are so many unreported incidents of rape whose voices are
unheard. Then there are incidents of involvement of high profile people in
crime against women, be in Bhawari Devi case of Rajasthan or Madhumita case of
UP or rape by police and soldiers. Accused in such cases were either never
tried or acquitted due to lack of evidence. It is clear that a certainty of
punishment rather than its severity can only act as a deterrent to such heinous
crimes.
While public resent in
understandable, anger and outrage should not be a guiding factor for any
progressive society. Succumbing to such measures will only reflect over as a
hypocrite society who believed in right to live with honor and dignity of the
victim and justify it by taking the life of culprit. Revenge should not be
mistaken as justice. As long as there is a life, it gives the culprit a chance
to improve, show remorse, despair, understand the gravity of the crime
committed and regret and do whatever he can to improve himself as a person and
society as a whole. Crime against women and sexual offenses has not only been
committed by the illiterate but also by the so called high class educated
people. Most of the rape has been committed under heavy influence of drugs and
alcohol and in spur of moment. Do we really believe that a person thinks
about the stringent punishments he
might receive at that moment? Has capital punishment stopped murder and other
heinous crimes in our country? Are there no incidents of rape in the countries
which support stringent punishments?
Recent incidents of rape
have shown increased involvement of youth. Victims have been identified as
minor in many of those cases. We cannot shy away from the fact that in the
recent years our society as failed to impart values. Be it cinema or
advertisements, women are still objectified. Discussing sex with children is
still a taboo in Indian family. Until unless we bring basic reforms in our
education and outlook, we cannot find easy solutions in the form of capital
punishments and wash our hands off our primary responsibility of bringing up
our children in sound environment and making strong foundations on which stands
our social structure. Mindless outrage and intolerance should not find place in
progressive society.
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