‘No’ to Death Penalty

West Bengal Government proposed a new anti-rape bill that introduces capital punishment for those convicted of rape if the victim either dies or is left in a vegetative state and The West Bengal Legislative Assembly has passed this Bill titled ‘Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024’. BJP MLAs also supported the bill as a major opposition party in West Bengal. This legislation comes after the tragic rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee [PGT] doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

A horrific crime has occurred, deeply rattling the nation’s conscience. A 31-year-old doctor was brutally raped and killed in her working place–the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, a state-run institution, on 9th August, ‘24. This incident pointed towards the negligence of the State Health Department, police investigation, and crippled administration of the West Bengal Government. Then all too familiar corruption! The persons in authority, managing the health service are involved in it. To protest against this heinous crime and corrupted system, every citizen of West Bengal is moving out to the street and raising their voice for justice for more than a month. Under these circumstances, West Bengal Government announced this anti-rape Bill to divert public attention. Junior doctors are continuing their agitation by organising sit-ins and candlelight march while refusing to join duty unless their demands are met. Their demands include among other things resignation of police Commissioner for his deliberate inaction to check vandalism that seems to have altered the crime place and justice for the brutal rape and murder of their colleague.

The death penalty is not a definitive answer to crime, as it fails to address the root causes and complexities of criminal behaviour. There are no conclusive empirical studies that show the death penalty deters crime. It is unacceptable for a civilised society that killers need to be killed as it perpetuates the cycle of violence. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) both state that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person and the death penalty violets both. A total of 112 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while 9 others have done so for common law offenses. Additionally, 23 nations are in the process of abolishing capital punishment. However, 55 countries, including India, continue to retain the death penalty.

One cannot reject the struggle for women’s emancipation which again cannot be separated from the struggle against the hierarchical patriarchy in India. It is unfortunate that laws, courts, parliaments, ministries are happy to embrace this flawed system.

In Nirvaya rape and murder case, Justice Verma Committee pointed out that–‘‘in the larger interests of society, and having regard to the current thinking in favour of the abolition of the death penalty, and also to avoid the argument of any sentencing arbitrariness, we are not inclined to recommend the death penalty.” But, ruling political parties are arguing on encounter, death penalty to derive political mileage from the tragedy. Gandhi’s famous quote “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” is a lesson for all that violence cannot be the solution for another violence. The politics of revenge and state-sanctioned killings sustain cycles of violence–in truth violence begets violence. What is necessary is reconciliation, not retribution.

[Contributed by Kirity Roy. Mr Roy is Secretary, MASUM and National Convene, Programme AgainstCustodialTorture& Impunity]

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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 13, Sep 22 - 28, 2024