Capital Punishment a Band-Aid Solution to Deep-Rooted Problems

Kolkata:  Kirity Roy, a well-known human rights activist in West Bengal. has been active in raising issues of people living around the India-Bangladesh border. The secretary of MASUM has also participated in several RG Kar protest rallies be it at Serampore, Hooghly or in Moula Ali. But now, the human rights activist is opposing the death penalty proposed to the rapists in the Aparajita Bill 2024 passed by the Bengal assembly led by Mamata Banerjee government.

Roy is not alone, Nisha Biswas, another prominent face in the field of activism in Bengal, Kavita Krishnan, women rights activist, who had led the 2012 Delhi Gangrape protest in national capital. And Dayamani Barla, a civil and tribal rights activist, who is known as Iron Lady in Jharkhand opposed the death sentence proposed in the anti-rape bill.

On August 9, the dead body of a trainee doctor pursuing her post-graduation from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital recovered was recovered from the seminar hall of the medical college hospital. Soon it was established that the 31 year-old trainee doctor had also been raped. After the news, anger spilled over across Kolkata, and later to Bengal and India. Kolkata Police arrested one Sanjay Roy, still the protest did not stop. The case was handed over to the CBI, but the movement to change the system and make the workplace safe for women continued. The Supreme Court too took Cognizance, a rarity in recent times, but protests that already became a movement did not die. Amid all these Mamata Banerjee, brought a bill in Bengal assembly, proposing capital punishment to rapists. The Bill introduces the death penalty or life-long imprisonment for rape by amending the relevant sections in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the new penal code. In fact, death has been sought to be prescribed for five offences — rape; rape by police officer or public servant; rape causing death or sending victim to persistent vegetative state; gang rape, and being a repeat offender. It also amends the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to provide for special courts to try such offences in a time-bound manner, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, to provide for death in cases of penetrative sexual assault and its aggravated form. The President’s assent will be required for the State amendments.

No Conclusive Empirical Studies That Show The Death Penalty Deters Crime

The incident pointed towards the negligence of Bengal’s Health department, police investigation, and crippled administration of the state government. 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 about a month. Under these circumstances, the Mamata Banerjee Government announced this anti-rape Bill to divert the movement, said Kirity Roy.

Roy further pointed out, “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 civilized 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 violates both. A total of 112 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while 9 others have done so for common law offences. Additionally, 23 nations are in the process of abolishing capital punishment. However, 55 countries, including India, continue to retain the death penalty.”

The activist mentioned that how judiciary, administrative and legislative bodies are not doing its work, “We cannot reject that the struggle for women’s emancipation cannot be separated from the struggle against the hierarchical patriarchy in India. Unfortunately, laws, courts, parliaments, and ministries are happy to embrace this flawed system.”

“In the 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. However, ruling political parties are arguing for encounter, death penalty as a result of justice for personal and political gain. Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote, ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’ is a lesson for us that violence cannot be the solution for another-violence. The politics of revenge and state-sanctioned killings sustain cycles of violence,” he added.

Institutional Rape and Murder: A Major Concern, Prevent That

Nisha Biswas, a Kolkata based activist reacted, “My first question, why is there a different name for the victims? Sometimes it was Nirbhaya, Sometimes Abhaya and now Aparajita. If somebody has been raped, or brutalized, how she becomes Aparajita or Nirbhaya? Why hide the identity? We are not Nirbahya or Abhaya? We fear, in our lives. When we move on the roads, we fear. My age is 70 years, but at a lone place, if I hear some sound from my back, I turn in fear to see who is coming. This fear has been instilled in us.”

“Laws have been made in Maharashtra and Andhra and awaiting approval from The President of India. We have given capital punishment to people from Kolkata to Delhi. We hanged Dhananjay, what changed after that? After the Verma committee’s recommendation, the punishment from 7 to 10 years has increased but the conviction rate has gone down. For RG Kar protest, I was in Barasat recently, where a daughter was raped, now if there will be the death penalty, nobody in the family will support her. In most of the cases, rapes happen in homes, so how many cases will come out then?” she asked.

She pointed out, “Institutional murder is the main issue, it happened in RG Kar and in Uttar Pradesh too. Raped happened inside the ambulance, the patient was murdered and the wife was raped.”

“Society should be changed to instruct males, not females, instead of asking women to enter the home by 8 pm, it should be said to men. The laws were changed in Nirbhaya time too, and minors were hanged, but have they changed? I believe that even if the criminal has done the crime, he or she should not be hanged,” Nisha added.

New Clothes, Women-Friendly Courtrooms, police-doctor should not have last word, essential for Rape Victims

Kavita Krishnan, the author of Fearless Freedom told eNewsroom, “The introduction of the death sentence will lead to more deaths of rape victims. We have laws in place, it is a question of how to implement them. How to make sure that policing, safety and rape victim’s dignity take place properly.”

The women rights activist said further, “What can be done for prevention of rape, for justice and rape survivors, some of those suggestions are there in the Verma committee report. Implementing these measures would be a great start. The Verma committee not only recommended changing the laws but it recommended specific measures that governments should be making which should be budgeted for and government should be transparent where it has been allocated.”

“Quick justice is bad. It is simply bad for the quality of judicial functioning. There will be no pressure on police to do an intensive investigation. Their sub-standard work will be incentivized. Even the courts will be pressurizing to quickly pass the judgments. The answer is increasing the number of judges and courts, and it is not just for rape survivors but for the people at large,” she mentioned.

“There are several reasons for opposing the Aparajita bill. One is, the way it has been drafted and passed. In this kind of haste. And in a tense situation. Where the government has not even responded to other questions of justice in the RG Kar case. In the wake of Nirbhaya, when there was a proposal to draft a bill and set up a Verma committee, activists feared it would be a mere appeasement. Our taxpayer’s money should be put in place to make institutional changes.

The activist who has watched many such major rape incidents suggested several important steps needed to be done than just pronouncing capital punishment, “Simple things can matter a lot in rape cases as suggested by Dr Pratiksha Bakshi. New clothes should be provided to rape victims in police stations and hospitals, as the clothes they remain wearing get used for evidence. Courtrooms should be made women-friendly, as it is mostly masculine. The judges still allow the prosecution to ask dehumanizing questions related to rape. The drawing conclusion of whether rape happened or not should not be done on police or even doctor’s finding, it could only be noted down.”

Societal, Administrative and Judicial Reform Key to Ending Rape

Dayamani Barla, the iron lady of Jharkhand too believes that capital punishment will not end the evils in society. “I believe that if we have to end the evils in society, the entire society, administration as well as the judiciary system should work responsibly and together. Then only the cases of rape will be stopped or lessened,” she said.

And added, “The laws which have been made to provide safety to women should be strictly implemented. I strongly believe that the death penalty will not stop the evils in society.”