Captial punishment for rapists

After the inhuman December 16 gangrape in Delhi,the gangrape of a photojournalist in Mumbai has again brought shame. Rape is not new to society and the loopholes in the law have always helped those accused of rape escape. It has emboldened anti-social elements,leading to a hike in the number of cases. After the Delhi case,a demand was made to for convicted rapists to get the death penalty. The Centre formed the Justice Verma Committee and said it would apply most of its recommendations. However,this hasn’t proved to be a sufficient remedy. Section 376 provides imprisonment for not less than 7 years,normally 10 years and maximum life imprisonment depending upon the gravity of the offence.

The law provides death penalty for rape only if the victim has been murdered. Dhananjay Chatterjee was the last person executed for rape.In the Mumbai case,rape was committed but not murder. This will help the accused as they will not get the death penalty but may get life imprisonment. The government promises to send certain cases to fast track courts,but there are only 1,562 such courts in the entire country. The Supreme Court in Bachan Singh v/s State of Punjab case of 1980 held that capital punishment should be awarded only in the rarest of the rare case. Unfortunately,rape is no more a rare case as it has become a daily occurrence in some part of the country or another. The law needs to be amended so rapists get the death penalty as it will deter others. But the procedure for amendments has always been difficult in India. The parliamentarians,law minister and law commission should take cognisance of the situation and make the necessary changes for the larger interest of women and society.

Adv Pranay Ajmera

Model Colony

Thackeray’s comments

In the wake of the Mumbai gangrape,Raj Thackeray,president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) suggested that the state home minister R R Patil should be defamed by sending him “bangles”. This is a sad testimony of the reinforcement of male chauvinism during the time of need for gender equity.

With the current upsurge in violence against women in India and in the case of the said event in particular,political leaders need to demonstrate a greater level of sensitivity and encourage a healthy social mindset. ‘Wearing Bangles’ is a term for ‘being a woman’ or ‘showing feminine characteristics’ and is liberally used throughout India to express contempt and ridicule towards men,usually for showing ‘lack of courage or action’.

Thackeray’s statement is offensive and hurtful to women,who are and have been part of the nation’s workforce and economic strength,right from agriculture to sports,science and technology to governance. While the deplorable crime deserves media attention,politicians must not get carried away in their struggle to pacify vote banks. Thackeray must apologise for his irresponsible statement and the MNS must provide clarification of the same.

Mudra Shirvaikar

Aundh