After all the public outrage over the shocking & gruesome rape & murder of Nirbhaya in New Delhi, the 630 page Justice Verma panel report’s recommendations on laws dealing with women safety comes as a disappointment . Those expecting something radical from this report’s so called suggestions for tougher laws to protect women, would be seriously let-down. This report does not recommend death penalty for the rapist, does not favour chemical castration of rapists (under the garb that human body mutilation is not favoured under the country’s constitution) and is still ready to let juvenile rapists go scot-free!
Raping a woman is mutilating her body and soul and her trauma is worse than death. Many a times in our country the rape victim is ostracized by the society on grounds of morality! Juveniles raping, torturing women are less criminals? If murder is horrendous, rape is ten times more monstrous and devilish act. And we want to keep them in jail at the cost of taxpayer’s money? You and I shall pay for them to be kept alive in jails? By any chance if anyone is inclined to believe that these rapists would reform, then its’ time to re-check some facts.
Recently, serial rapist who had raped and murdered a minor year old girl in 2002 and had been serving jail sentence since 2003, was released on parole for showing good behaviour. Immediately after his release he kidnapped another nine year old girl, raped her and murdered her. He then disposed the victim's body at an isolated place near Shirdi railway station (source: Serial rapist on parole rapes, murders minor girl). All we are doing by keeping them in jails is that we are keeping these wolves alive for them to tear-apart some other girl or women later. Death penalty creates fear and only then such criminals can be deterred.
“The measure of punishment in a given case must depend upon the atrocity of the crime, the conduct of the criminal and the defenceless and unprotected state of the victim.
Imposition of appropriate punishment is the manner in which the courts respond to the society's cry for justice against the criminals.
Justice demands that courts should impose punishment befitting the crime so that the courts reflect public abhorrence of the crime.”
- Justices A.S. Anand and N.P. Singh, Supreme Court of India, in the case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee
Justice Verma panel’s recommendations for adding acts like disrobing a woman, voyeurism, stalking and trafficking, intentional touching, spoken words and gestures made as advances under sexual misconduct is an welcome move but by not advocating death penalty for the rapists, the weapon has been left blunt & rusting.
Our society has no qualms in killing millions of girls in mother's womb (source: India loses 3 million girls in infanticide), in killing a new bride for dowry (source: Dowry death: One bride burnt every hour) but when it comes to awarding death penalty to rapists we back-off advocating principles of humanity. In this country of a girl escapes being killed in the womb, she might end-up being burnt alive by her in-laws for dowry. If she escapes that too then the society and in some cases even family members are there to get her and either she is tortured & killed or she lives in fear throughout her life!What an irony! Do women in this country stand any chance? If some cannibals must die for millions of innocent people to live, so be it!
Engagement principles are always based on rationale concrete outcomes. Civil societies & organizations have responsibility towards protecting the innocent & for that if there is a need to strongly punish the offenders, they should not hesitate.
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