The nation felt vindicated after the SC's judgement to hang the accused in Nirbhaya's dreadful rape of 16 December 2012.
The ruling however has also attracted opposition as protesters of capital punishment deem it barbaric and inhumane. While I too personally advocate diversified forms of punishment, it is at the moment too unrealistic to demand. We have an even fundamental goal to achieve, i.e., to ensure speedy trials and delivery of justice. There is a huge backlog of cases piled up, lakhs of individuals waiting for redressal/rights and hundreds of criminals yet to be punished for crimes committed a decade ago. It took almost 5 years for the verdict of the Nirbhaya case itself to be ruled.
Before questioning the forms of justice, it is more necessary to do away with the primary flaws- delay in action taken, witness protection, evidence tampering, et al. Worse still, many times due to hand greasing, the culprit easily escapes being arrested, let alone a case being filed against him/her.
Also, introducing unconventional methods of punishment will further lead to complications- What kind of punishment for what degree of crime? Which crime deserves physical harm and which does not? Usually there's a fine line between intensity of two crimes, how will it be identified and treated? And mind it, it is 'crime' we are talking about, not civil violations or contract breaches. While it is easy to conceptualize the idea of unconventional justice forms for such tort, it is highly complex and an issue of grave concern when implemented on a heinous crime like murder or rape. Till we do not have an efficient justice system in place, replacing capital punishment with any non-traditional form of punishment will be futile and full of hassles, leading to only more delayed justice.
All said and done, the Supreme Court's decision is commendable. It won't bring our sister back; the parents will not get their daughter back, it is not a substantial guarantee that rapes will stop, but at least her horrendous culprits won't breathe anymore while we ache for her.
The ruling however has also attracted opposition as protesters of capital punishment deem it barbaric and inhumane. While I too personally advocate diversified forms of punishment, it is at the moment too unrealistic to demand. We have an even fundamental goal to achieve, i.e., to ensure speedy trials and delivery of justice. There is a huge backlog of cases piled up, lakhs of individuals waiting for redressal/rights and hundreds of criminals yet to be punished for crimes committed a decade ago. It took almost 5 years for the verdict of the Nirbhaya case itself to be ruled.
Before questioning the forms of justice, it is more necessary to do away with the primary flaws- delay in action taken, witness protection, evidence tampering, et al. Worse still, many times due to hand greasing, the culprit easily escapes being arrested, let alone a case being filed against him/her.
Also, introducing unconventional methods of punishment will further lead to complications- What kind of punishment for what degree of crime? Which crime deserves physical harm and which does not? Usually there's a fine line between intensity of two crimes, how will it be identified and treated? And mind it, it is 'crime' we are talking about, not civil violations or contract breaches. While it is easy to conceptualize the idea of unconventional justice forms for such tort, it is highly complex and an issue of grave concern when implemented on a heinous crime like murder or rape. Till we do not have an efficient justice system in place, replacing capital punishment with any non-traditional form of punishment will be futile and full of hassles, leading to only more delayed justice.
All said and done, the Supreme Court's decision is commendable. It won't bring our sister back; the parents will not get their daughter back, it is not a substantial guarantee that rapes will stop, but at least her horrendous culprits won't breathe anymore while we ache for her.
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