Brig (retd) G.B. Reddi
Delhi certainly claims the dubious distinction of being the “Capital of Rapes”. None of the people of Delhi should suffer from any illusions on this count. Apportioning the blame to the “Law and Order” machinery is the common refrain after every rape.
“CASTRATION” punishment followed by “Bulldozer” justice can only redress the rape conundrum.
I dare say that the blame for continuing rape episodes squarely rests on the “LAW MAKERS” and the “JUDICIARY”: non-deterrent laws, laid-back disposal of cases, and punishments.
Can the existing Indian laws and their execution process deter rapes? The answer is simple – NO. The provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), particularly Sections 375 and 376, were inadequate to ensure effective deterrence against sexual offences.
The earlier the “Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and Media – Four Pillars of the Constitution” realise it, the better it is.
None can deny that lawmakers recognise that laws are appropriate to a “CIVILISED SOCIETY”.
Ipso facto, India is a multi-layered society – from the Stone Age to the Space Age. From criminal gangs to political leaders, perpetrators of rape continue to be on the rampage.
On deeper reflection, intellectuals cutting across the full spectrum are living in a fool’s paradise – more aptly, in self-delusion and fantasy – if they believe that merely enacting laws would prevent the current spate of gruesome rapes, including gang rapes and murders.
Admittedly, it is gross intellectual absurdity or bankruptcy to expect lawmakers to enact and enforce separate laws for various layers of society – from predators with animal instincts, such as the accused in the Kolkata RG Kar Hospital doctor’s case, to all other categories, including the Badalpur gang rape, the Kolhapur rape and murder of a 10-year-old, the gang rape of a 14-year-old Class 10 girl in the Dhing area of Nagaon in Assam, and the rape of a Class 12 girl by a bus driver in Punjab’s Zirakpur, among others in the public domain.
Ipso facto, lawmakers have failed to enact fool-proof and fail-safe laws.
Why? For, they have among them rapists and others with criminal records pending against them, who allow loopholes to circumvent punishment.
My suggestions have been simple since 2012.
In retrospect, to ensure deterrence, speedy delivery of justice is critical. The practice of “Due Course of Law” or “Due Process” or “Justice” is allowed to run its course; it is contrary to the principle that “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”. Earlier, the high pundits of the legal fraternity accepted the need for short, time-bound disposal – one month at the most. One cannot expect effective deterrence otherwise. If this is not ensured, they too are complicit in the escalation of rapes.
In the case of murder following rape, “HANG” the accused in full public view instead of behind the four walls of the jail. For example, the accused in the Kolkata rape case should be hanged in front of VICTORIA MEMORIAL in full public view and kept hanging for 24 hours.
Also, enact “CASTRATION” of accused persons as a punishment in all other “RAPE” cases.
If humans behave like animals – dogs on the prowl in streets – and predators stalk women, such animals in human form must also be caught red-handed and castrated without reference to the judiciary.
Who is to be blamed for the failure to ensure effective deterrence? Viewed holistically, the Judiciary, State governments, concerned administrative machinery and State police forces are all responsible and accountable. Add to them even Civil Society activists, particularly human-rights activists.
Let me review the current laws on rape after the Nirbhaya rape case of December 16, 2012, in Delhi. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 amended Sections 375 and 376 of the IPC, broadening the definition of rape and strengthening punishments for sexual offences. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 introduced more stringent penal provisions.
The IPC was subsequently amended to include provisions such as Sections 376A, 376AB, 376B, 376C, 376D, 376DA, 376DB and 376E, besides the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Since July 1, 2024, however, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) has replaced the IPC. Rape is now dealt with principally under Sections 63 to 71 of the BNS. The law provides stringent punishments, including minimum sentences for rape, enhanced provisions for rape of minors, punishment for gang rape, and the death penalty in specified circumstances. For instance, Section 70(2) provides for imprisonment for life, meaning imprisonment for the remainder of the offender’s natural life, or death in cases of gang rape of a woman under 18 years of age. Section 71 provides life imprisonment or death for certain repeat offenders.
If these laws have failed to ensure effective deterrence against sexual offences, the reasons are simple. Of course, it is quite common to blame the local police forces for phenomenal delays in investigation processes, including allegations of sheltering and shielding the accused.
Let me outline the data available in the public domain. More than six lakh rape cases have been officially registered in India since the beginning of the new millennium. The latest NCRB report currently available is for 2023. NCRB data show that India recorded 31,677 rape cases in 2021, compared with 28,046 in 2020 and 32,033 in 2019.
Next, since the turn of the 21st century, five individuals convicted of rape and subsequent murder have been judicially executed by hanging in India: four convicts executed simultaneously at Tihar Jail, Delhi, for the infamous 2012 “Nirbhaya” gang rape and murder case; and Dhananjoy Chatterjee, a security guard executed at Alipore Jail, Kolkata, for the 1990 rape and murder of 18-year-old student Hetal Parekh. The four Nirbhaya convicts were executed at Tihar Jail on March 20, 2020. Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed on August 14, 2004.
As per data in the public domain, there were 371 prisoners on death row in India by the end of December 2017, with the oldest case dating back to 1991, according to the Death Penalty in India report published in January 2018. The average time for trial of the prisoners facing death row was five years, as per an earlier study carried out between July 2013 and January 2015 and published in February 2016. The trial of 127 prisoners lasted for more than five years and that of 54 prisoners continued for over 10 years.
Among prisoners whose mercy petitions were rejected by the President of India, the median time spent in prison was 16 years and nine months, while the median time spent under sentence of death was 10 years and five months. The longest time spent by a prisoner in jail in such cases was 25 years, and the longest time spent on death row was 21 years and one month. These figures illustrate the prolonged nature of capital punishment proceedings in India.
More than 1,000 death sentences and executions were reported in China in 2017, Amnesty data show. The US reported 23 executions and awarded 41 death sentences, while Pakistan executed more than 60 people and awarded death sentences to over 200 in 2017.
In sum, the current Indian laws and their execution process cannot, by themselves, deter rapes and murders of all categories. If one takes into consideration all the changes sweeping mankind, there is no easy escape route to prevent and eliminate rapes, however gruesome and brutal. A number of measures have to be invoked and implemented, including the fear of punishment, to control the menace of rape and murder and to restore a modicum of sanity in society.
Perhaps, “CASTRATION” punishment followed by “Bulldozer” justice may deter the surge in rapes.
And the Judiciary must ensure “Time-Bound” disposal of cases – within three months at the Sessions Court level and final disposal, including the mercy-petition process, within a one-year time frame: “Justice Delayed; Justice Denied”.
