It was very motherly of Asha Devi to express happiness when the four convicts, who had gang raped and brutally killed her beloved daughter, were finally hanged to death in Tihar jail in the early hours on March 20, 2020. It was understandable of the emotions of satisfaction of the girl’s father Badrinath Singh. Scores of others, especially the women groups and seekers of justice, rejoiced that after waiting for more than seven years, justice was finally granted to Nirbhaya.

No one will justify the gang rape and atrocious murder of that young medical student in a moving bus in Delhi. That’s why there were spontaneous protests and demonstrations immediately after the incident.

The hard-cored convicts must be absolutely penalized for their heinous crime. That will serve also as a deterrent to other criminals, who dare to commit such atrocious crimes in our society.

But the question is: Is killing the convicts the only justice in this 21st century? Can we ascertain that their hanging will put an end to rape and murder? Though these convicts have committed a deplorable crime, can we not give these youngsters in their 20’s to repent and amend their lives after a rigorous punishment with life guidance? Since the convicts had been trying every legal loopholes till the last moment reveal that they had been undergoing all these years a psychological torture. They had been dying all these seven years. That’s why before the execution these youngsters had refused to eat, bathe and begged for mercy on the way to the gallows.

A day after the execution, the UN has appealed again all the countries to end death penalty.  The UN General Assembly in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 had called for a global moratorium on executions. Amnesty International regards death penalty as the “ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights.” After  the execution the Amnesty International India working president Avinash Kumar declared that death penalty is not the solution.  Besides the Amnesty International, world-wide organizations like the Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) work for the abolition of death penalty.

Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union affirms its prohibition. Almost all First World countries have abolished it. Today 106 countries have completely abolished it and 32 more  have not executed it for the last decade. Seven countries impose this punishment only in exceptional  cases. Only one third, i.e. 56 countries, including India, retains it and in these countries it is becoming  increasingly restrained.

Human rights activists call the death penalty as a “cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.” It  violates the right to life which is the most basic of all human rights. Since life is God’s great gift and the  divine law forbids killing a human person, the Catholic Church opposes capital punishment. Appealing  countries to abolish it, Pope Francis expressed that capital punishment is an offence.

Though the government imposes death penalty as a deterrent, has the rape and killing of women  stopped in India? It has only increased after Nirbhaya case. The National Crime Records Bureau shows  that in 2018 police recorded 33,977 rape cases in India, an average of 93 every day, making it the fourth  most crime committed against women. Public support for the death penalty is an expression of anger  towards that crime as in Nirbhaya’s case and the desire to get rid of that crime.

Public anger and the background of the victims also influence the court. Death penalty is often imposed on persons of lower socio economic background, minorities than against privileged background. While these four convicts hail from lower strata of the society, there are many powerful, wealthy, political and influential persons who escape the noose and even the iron bars.  Culprits need to be punished, but made to live a new worthwhile life. Logic for the death penalty is that if we kill him, he will never do it again. Yes, he can never do it again. Though it is considered as a deterrent, it has not proved it to be. So there is an urgent need for moratorium of capital punishment in our country too.

F.M. Britto
Raipur, Chhattisgarh