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Death sentence is not the answer

Last Updated 05 November 2020, 19:26 IST

The Karnataka High Court’s assertion that there should be no leniency shown to culprits in cases of sexual violence against women is commendable, and its concern is timely and relevant when more and more cases of gang rape, the murder of rape victims, and sexual assaults on children are coming to public attention. The court expressed its views and sentiments while dismissing the appeals of seven persons who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for gang rape by the trial court. They had been convicted and sentenced for the gang rape of a student in 2012 in Bengaluru. Apart from confirming the lower court’s decision, the court also recommended to the government to amend Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code to award death sentence to the accused in gang rape cases. The section currently provides for a jail term of not less than 20 years, with a penalty. The court has said that this would help to “curb the menace of gang rape in society at large.’’

While the court’s concern is welcome, its proposal may not be the right solution to the problem. It has said that “gang rape is worse than murder’’ and so it thinks that the death penalty is the right punishment for it. Capital punishment already exists in the statute for gang rape and the Nirbhaya case accused were sentenced to death. Last year, the law was amended to allow the death penalty for rape of children younger than 12 years. But it may not be right to assume that a harsher penalty would be a deterrent against crimes, including sexual crimes. It has been pointed out that it is the certainty of punishment and not its severity that acts as a deterrent. It is doubtful if the certainty of the death penalty would bring down the number of sexual crimes, including gang rape. It might actually increase the possibility of the victim being killed in a bid to destroy evidence of the crime.

More than 40% of those sentenced to death in 2018 and about 53% of those in 2019 were convicted for cases that included sexual offences and murder. Death sentences are increasingly being meted out in cases involving sexual violence. This is happening extra-judicially also, as in the killing by the police of four persons accused of rape and murder in Hyderabad in December last year. What is needed, rather than the death penalty, is better investigation and prosecution of rape cases. The conviction rate in rape cases is low. It actually dropped from 32.2% in 2017 to 27.2% in 2018. The death sentence is not a right and just punishment for any crime.

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(Published 05 November 2020, 19:22 IST)

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