Should Every Rapist be Hanged?

Should Every Rapist be Hanged?

India is named as the world's most dangerous country for women in a survey by a Global Think Tank, The Thomson Reuters Foundation. We have witnessed many brutal rapes and death of humanity in the recent past, India reported 88 rapes cases every single day in 2019. Now Hathras case has ignited and amplified demand for more stringent laws. Shouldn't every alleged perpetrator be hanged for such an inhumane crime?

Rape is amongst the most heinous crimes in India punishment for which can extend from life imprisonment to the death penalty. Rape is not just violence against bodily but also a mentally excruciating and lacerating act which is nothing less than a mental trauma to the plaintiff. Section 375 of the IPC defines Rape as A man is said to commit “rape” who has sexual intercourse with a woman against her will without her consent inter alia. Section 376 of the IPC states the punishment for such as inhumane act. Rape is amongst the most heinous crimes in India punishment for which can extend from imprisonment to the death penalty, while imprisonment is most common and the death penalty is in rare of the rarest cases as stated in Bachan Singh vs the State of Punjab. After the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case after amendment, it was made more stringent by adding more provisions. In a study by National Law University Delhi, it was found that more than 755 people have been hanged in independent India until now.

The punishment for rape vary from country to country like Death sentence or castration in China, Beheading within days in Saudi Arabia Death by firing squad in North Korea, hanging and stoning in Iran, Shot in the head or hanged to death in Afghanistan are amongst the most stringent existing laws and these are often criticized by many organizations like UN for not providing fair trial and their spontaneity, the human right activists have always been against such laws. Many times convicted rapists who were executed were later found innocent because of such savage haste and often this is used as a cover-up to execute dissidents. ''It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer'' aka Blackstone's Ratio is amongst the essence of the trail in a democratic country like India. According to a study published in 2014 by Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) reveals that 53.2 per cent rape cases filed were false.

Therefore, ohanging every alleged rapist in name of justice in haste would be antithetical to the quintessence of the democracy. We should not confuse between revenge and justice. Revenge is, by nature, personal; justice is impersonal, impartial, and both a social and legal phenomenon. Revenge is predominantly emotional; justice primarily rational.

Also, in the landmark judgment of Mithu vs the State of Punjab, the Supreme Court had also ruled that the mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional.

BY - Rajesh Singh