Jai Hind: Proud to be an Indian

ANOTHER RAPE incident has come in light in Delhi/NCR. The rape of MBA student in Noida just shows the helplessness of our legal system. I have always felt that the basic reason why the rapists are not afraid of committing the crime is the loopholes in our legal process. As it is our judiciary walks with snail pace and on top of it the weak laws make it even more comic.

With this latest incident there needs to be discussion on whether or not there should be death penalty for the crime of rape?

Many penologists and jurists believe that it deserves to be punished as seriously as murder is. I feel that if serious crimes were meted out with stricter and harsher punishments, their numbers would reduce considerably. The rape has over the years has become one of the most heinous crime in a civilised society. Of all the cases reported, there are figures which say that every 26 minutes, a women becomes target in our country. And if you include the unreported cases then I feel that the number will run in seconds not minutes.

Over the last few years there have been so many incidents of rape where children and elderly have also been targeted. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCTB) data also clearly points to the profile of the average rapist – over 75 per cent were known to the victims. In fact, nearly 10 per cent were relatives. Another disturbing aspect was that about a quarter of the rape victims were minors. Cases of incest are also increasing. Fathers rape their own children, brothers rape their own sisters. The victim of rape is ravished like an animal for the fulfillment of desire and lust of another man and which undermines the integrity of the victim, physically as well as mentally.

Justice Arjit Pasayat observed: “While a murderer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female.

” Article 21 of Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and liberty to men and women both alike, but whether it is really imperative to take a decisive step towards extirpating this evil and make the contemporary and future society a safe haven for women. I think yes.

It is time for the law makers to formulate more stringent laws. Right now are laws have so many loopholes that it is very easy for the rapist to walk free. The sentence of punishment ranges from one to ten years. If the accused is influential, he may even expiate by paying huge amounts of money and get exculpated.

The time has come to give death penalty for the crime of rape to the conscienceless criminals. If death sentence is given to such convicts, so as to deter the rest, then no doubt that the graph of rape cases will come down considerably. Though there can be some other alteration but it is very essential that we need to overhaul our judiciary. We need to study the laws, the process and then apply a job which can cater to the larger interest of the society. If such step is not taken then the victim of every rape will not be a woman but humanity.

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