In April 2018, India’s Cabinet has approved the introduction of the death penalty for those who rape children below 12 years of age. This decision is taken because public were outraged at the brutal rape and murder of 8 year old girl. The government was criticised for not doing much to prevent sexual assault cases.
Sexual violence on children is on a rise these days. The Death Penalty ensures fear among criminal minds and as well ensures the decrease in these crime rates. Children who face sexual harassment are not capable enough to deal with the trauma apart from the support, care and love from the people and surroundings. These survivors will have to live up to the emotional pain and trauma throughout their life. Child rapists do not deserve to live. FULLSTOP. These heinous crime such as raping an innocent child, is not only a big threat to the children but to the society. You know sometimes I really wish that there were some kind of liquid spray or sanitizer to kill these people. They are worse than germs!
But if you ask me, there are some points why I feel that death penalty is not the only solution. As rapists may kill their victims after the crime, because the punishment for murder and rape are now same. Moreover, It is taking years to solve and do justice to the victims of rape. Cases are piling up day by day due to the delay of judgements. Conviction rate is rape is already low. In many cases of child rape, the accused is mostly a family member or a relative or a closed ones due to which death penalty may discourage them to file the case.
Punishments in a civilized society should not be awarded to take revenge. Rather they should be able to deter crimes, reform the criminal and to protect society from them.As per Nirbhaya Act, 2013, death penalty is already there in rarest of rare cases. Severity of punishment should be based on the brutality of the crime.Only girl child victims are mentioned in the ordinance, but male children are also vulnerable to rapes. We have to remember that rapes have happened to both genders. Hence, both genders should be given equal weightage. Victims may face even more pressure and threats to withdraw the case. Rich and powerful can afford good lawyers and may escape from the punishment whereas the poor cannot do that.
Death Penalty is not only the solution as there are many underlying issues that lead to sexual violence. It is necessary to take both preventive measures and strict punishments which can reduce sexual crimes. The main cause of this deviant behaviour is lack of moral values. Children should be taught ethics and values, right and wrong from the very starting( young age). India is still a patriarchal society. Men here are taught to be tough and over-powering whereas women are taught to be sensitive and delicate. Due to which few men start thinking that they are superior to women. Another reason is that many families do not want to report rape because they think that it is a disgrace to the family's honor. In fact in some cases the woman is married off to the rapist and even the society never fails to blame the victim. It is very important for a positive environment to be created near the victim as it can affect them physically as well as mentally. In many cases, FIR should be filed quickly as soon as a rape case is reported and evidences should be collected within time. Investigation should involve better technology and intelligence and police should be trained properly.
Punishments should be based on the brutality of the crimes. It is best to leave the punishments up to the court as each case is different and should not be generalized into one category. The main cause for increasing child rape is low conviction rate. Moreover, rape cases are pending in court for years. Once all the loopholes are fixed there would be speedy justice. Not death penalty but speedy convictions will decrease the crime rate and would affect the mind of the rapist by infusing fear among them.
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