Supreme Court upholds death sentence for all “Nirbhaya” rape case accused. The convicts deserve to be hanged until death. In the wake of this SC judgement upholding the death sentence on the brutes, the nation has started debating on “whether the death by hanging must stay or should be abolished? “There are many who still say that hanging or any sort of capital punishment should be abolished in our country. But, I am of the strong view that capital punishment should continue to exist.
In India, the capital punishment is awarded only in the “rarest of rare cases” and after meticulous investigations and rather very lengthy legal process which takes even decades. The verdict reaches a conclusion after considering all deliberations and arguments. Take the very latest case and just see how many petitions are being filed and re-filed in respect of mercy petition to be considered and reviewed and disposed of. The criminal awarded death sentence is given many options to seek mercy. And, add to that our judiciary that is highly respected for meting out fair verdicts over the years. Above all, we do not have the barbaric or cruel way of carrying out a capital punishment like stoning, beheading or whipping in public and so on.
Hence the death penalty is an ideal mechanism to deter criminals, though whether hanging would prove to be deterrent is yet another topic to debate on. The anti-capital punishment group should think of the trauma and the sufferings the victim and his/her families have undergone and still face. Just imagine looking at the face of the hardcore terrorist or criminal, if he is jailed for a few years and is granted bail. Classic example is the case of that juvenile criminal who was brutally involved in the “Nirbhaya Delhi gang rape” and after serving just a three year jail term, thanks to the then prevailing law, is out leading perhaps a normal and easy life somewhere.
Now…how long will it take to see the “Nirbhaya rape convicts” to be hanged finally? Will criminals again seek a review petition? If so, the Supreme Court must again outright reject their petitions and say ‘enough is enough, the judgement stands for once and for all and that they must hanged”. I hope the President will again reject their mercy petition and expedite the process to pave the way for hanging of the rapists, very soon.
Incidentally, I learned that that there are already a good number of criminals who were awarded death sentences and still awaiting their turn to hang – for whatever reasons or for unknown reasons. I think here too, the law must move swiftly and all those death sentence convicts must be hanged without undue delay. Justice will seem to be done only if such hardcore criminals are awarded capital punishment and executed too.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
