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    'The real reason why rapists should not be hanged'

    Synopsis

    Rapists should not be hanged. Not on the grounds that 'Boys are boys – they make mistakes' but because the certainty of Capital Punishment results in a perverse incentive for rapists.

    By Sanju Rao

    Rapists should not be hanged. Not on the ludicrous grounds that “Boys are boys – they make mistakes” (courtesy the witless SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav) but because the certainty of Capital Punishment results in a perverse incentive for the rapists. The rapist is better off killing the victim as then there is no one left to emphatically identify him. Every rapist in this country has begun to think twice before leaving his rape victim alive. The victim is not left alive to identify and bear witness against the assailant; the rapist may not even be convicted, forget about being hanged for the crime.

    The death sentence for the men who raped and tortured Nirbhaya, leading to her death in December 2012, is setting a dangerous precedent for future rape convictions. The prospect of a death sentence is converting rapists into rapists and murderers. In a recent incident in the village of Aithpura, UP, the rapists have deliberately poured acid on the victim to make even the identity of the victim a question mark. One can easily guess that mutilating and killing victims is probably motivated by the fact that these acts would result in the perpetrator being acquitted. Let us remember that in a criminal case, our standards demand that the accused be found guilty “beyond all reasonable doubt”. The death of the victim and the resultant absence of the victim’s testimony can in the hands of clever lawyers (and let’s face it, rich upper caste rapists will undoubtedly be in a position to hire clever lawyers) resulting in the guilty going scot free!

    In Nirbhaya's case, luckily for the Delhi police, using CCTVs along the highway, they were able to identify, round up and arrest her rapists. Luckier even, that Nirbhaya and her companion had both been left alive by the rapists and were able to describe the vehicle to the police to track it down. Even if there had been no CCTVs in place, at least Nirbhaya and her companion could have aided the police with making sketches of the rapists, and identifying them among suspects rounded up. All this only because the two were left alive.

    If the death penalty becomes a trend for rape convictions (already the perpetrators of the Shakti Mills gang-rape have been awarded the death penalty early this year), the incidence of homicide will escalate as every rapist will seek to snuff out his victim – nothing will be done to reduce the incidence of rape itself. This is one among other unintended, undesirable consequences of such a precedent. It is ironic, but Mulayam Singh Yadav’s insensitive comment should not be dismissed. His demand for not having Capital Punishment for rape may actually be a sensible idea, even if advocated by him for wrong reasons.
     
    Angry crowds feel good when monstrous rapists are hanged. But caving into lynch-mob sentiments by sentencing the criminals to death is not a solution to the problem of rampant rapes across India. To draw a parallel, in the 2G spectrum scam, the public and media went on a protest rampage demanding the arrest of individuals involved in the scandal. However, once two prominent people were jailed for a short period of time, the clamour diminished and nothing was done to implement systemic changes to ensure that a scam of this nature and scale would not recur. As a matter of fact, things have taken a turn for the worse as the Telecom industry is faring poorly, since there are no processes in place to enable telecom companies to perform at their optimum capacities.

    With a death penalty now dangling before every rapist, rapes and torture will become more gruesome since a living victim is a living witness for the criminal pervert who will now go to any length to get rid of the victim's body, so as to most effectively cover up his traces. The rapist will do his worst; he will abuse and torture the victim in the most brutal of ways so as to extract as much sadistic pleasure as possible, before getting rid of the body. Cruel stepfathers and uncles, for instance, could keep the children who are in their care, captive, abuse them incessantly and not allow them to have contact with anyone.

    Systemic changes are key to addressing the incidence of rape across the nation. Police patrolling and installing more CCTVs particularly in deserted areas in cities, will increase surveillance effectiveness in public places. Provision of indoor toilets in rural areas will automatically reduce risk levels for possible victims. Currently, women have to go into distant and deserted fields where the rapists can abduct and assault them relatively easily. Hotlines (already instituted in some places) for children and victims of abuse must be available and accessible everywhere in the country; they must be more than adequately equipped to respond to every distress call and successfully rescue victims. If distress calls are not answered promptly and resolved, there is the danger of placing victims in greater peril, as their abusers can potentially discover their attempt to appeal for help; they could then quell and silence their victims viciously if not kill them altogether.

    Finally, there is a need for campaigns to raise awareness among citizens about the savagery being perpetuated around us, not just in order to work ourselves up into fits of moral indignation, but to focus on practical steps and tools we can use to prevent, stall and minimize rape; we can use hotlines, alert police, take photos and even shout for help to grab the attention of the people in proximity. Police must be sensitized about and motivated to take every report of abuse seriously; currently even complaints about harassment are routinely dismissed; this attitude must go. Children should be educated early on in their lives, about their rights and the complaints mechanisms that are accessible to them to appeal for help.

    Instead of seeking lynch-mob justice, can we as a country move towards more sober and constructive responses?

    (Sanju Rao works in Excalibur Foundation, an NGO based in Bangalore)


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