One of the heated topics of discussion today is regarding the
implementation of capital punishment. Truly speaking, it has completely lost
its meaning in the present scenario in India, where crimes are increasing at an
exponential rate but the justice and the punishment levels are deteriorating to
the level which is encouraging a lot of anti-socials and criminals to continue
with their acts of insolence and then ultimately go free , unpunished. Where is
the “JUSTICE?” “An eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth” that’s what the old system of justice says, but the thing
does not remain same anymore.
Look at the developments of the countries like USA, INDONESIA, DUBAI,
SAUDI ARABIA and so on and so forth. The crime ratio in these countries where
apt measures are being taken for the inhuman activities is terribly low. This
is obviously because they know that they have to reap what they sow. So there
is no question of capital punishment of being abolished, instead it should be
made more stringent. Leaving the criminals free would be a great deal of
injustice to those who had withstood the pain, the agony and the intense
trauma. In India where the brutal cases of murder, rape have become a part of
day to day life , I don’t think there is any alternative to capital and
corporal punishment.
It is said that everyone deserves a second chance to rectify themselves,
but providing them this chance is creating more nuisance, insecurity and distress
in the society. It is better to remove a rotten apple in order to save a basket
full of apples. Death penalty is morally justified when applied in murder
especially with aggravating elements such as child murderers, multiple
homicide, cop killers, torture murder, mass killing such as terrorism, massacre
and genocide. Whoever has committed murder must die. There is no juridical
substitute or surrogate for life that can be taken for the satisfaction of
justice. There is no likeness or proportion between life, however painful, and
death, and therefore there is no equality between the crime of murder and the
retaliation of it but what can be accomplished by the execution of the
criminal.
We can have a look at the cases of implementation of capital punishment
in independent India. Some 26 mercy petitions are pending before the President,
some of them since 1992. The mercy pleas of Seema Gavit were rejected by President after Supreme Court
of India confirmed her death sentence. Taking into account
the ear 2015, President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected 24 mercy pleas including that
of Yakub Menon, Ajmal Kasab, Afzal Guru. On 27 April 1995, Auto Shankar was hanged in Salem, Tamil
Nadu. On 14 August 2004,
Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged for the murder (following a rape) of 18-year-old
Hetal Parekh at her apartment residence in Bhowanipur on 5 March 1990. Chatterjee, whose mercy plea was
rejected on 4 August 2004, was kept at Alipore for nearly 14 years. Ajmal Kasab
, convicted of Mumbai attack on 3 may, 2010 was hanged on 21 November, 2012 in
Yerwada Central Jail, Pune. Afzal Guru was convicted of conspiracy in connection with the 2001
Indian Parliament attack and was sentenced to death. He was to be executed in
2006 but the execution was upheld and he was hanged on 9 February, 2013 in
Delhi’s Tihar jail.
Yakub Menon , convicted of 1993 Bombay bombings was hanged on 30th
July,2015 in Nagpur Central Jail. On 13 March 2012, a court in Sirsa,
Haryana, condemned to death the 22-year-old Nikka Singh for raping and
strangling to death a 75-year-old woman on 11 February 2011. The rape and cold-blooded murder of a
woman, who was of grandmother’s age of the accused, falls in the rarest of the
rare case. Kehar Singh
was hanged on 6 January 1989, for conspiracy in the plot of the Indira Gandhi
assassination, carried out by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. There have been calls for the
introduction of the death penalty for rapists and molesters, especially since
2012 Delhi gang rape case and later crimes.
Whoever has lost their near and dear ones know what loss they have
encountered. It is true that they won’t come back but that doesn't mean the
criminals be set free. Retribution is simply revenge and cannot be condoned.
Capital punishment has to be implemented when and where needed, but definitely
after a proper case study and making sure that no innocent gets punished for
someone else’s act.
Implementing capital punishment is the only medicine the brutalists deserve. There should be a strong say, a strong voice to guide this ideality
for the ultimate betterment of the nation. To the rapists, I have a thing to
say “just portray the image of your mother in your mind whenever such inhumane
thoughts flicker, it might make a difference not only in your life but also in
thousands of other lives.” It is urgent
to be inhumane to those who had been inhumane to bring in humanity to this day.
Live and let others live, sing and let others sing the joyful song of life.
-Ahana Bhattacharya
-Ahana Bhattacharya
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