Death Penalty No Magic Bullet to Curb Rape Cases

Context: Legalising death penalty for rape by enacting laws (like Shakti Criminal Law Bill of Maharashtra) brings to the fore the question of whether the death penalty will act as a deterrent against growing rape cases.

Analysing Rape Cases in India

• Incidence of rape: As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 32,033 rape cases were registered in India in 2019, as against 33,356 in 2018 and 32,599 in 2017.
• Improved reporting and registration of rape cases: due to uproar in media (due to public sympathy for the victim), campaigns by civil society and willingness of victims to report such crimes.
  • About 20% of the crimes under various heads go unreported or unregistered.
• Provision of capital punishment:
  • The central government brought an ordinance providing for the death penalty (after Unnao and Kathua rape cases).
  • Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013 was enacted, amending Indian Penal Code, POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and Indian Evidence Act.

 Arguments against the Death Penalty for Rape Cases

• Ominous possibility of perpetrators killing the victims: or committing violence on them in order to avoid identification and escape the death penalty.
• Need for watertight evidence leading to delays: While capital punishments would require strong evidence, flaws in the police investigation before convicting death punishment result in delays.
  • Though charge sheets are filed in 80% of the rape cases, there is a high rate of acquittal due to delay in trials, witnesses turning hostile and poor prosecution.
• Most rape cases are perpetrated by close relatives: and acquaintances, hence victims will be under tremendous pressure from kin not to report such cases, resulting in huge suppression of cases.
• Tough laws are against weaker and poorer sections: of society, who cannot engage expensive lawyers and perforce have to rely on State legal help.
• No adequate evidence in favour: only a few countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh, have the death penalty for rape in their statute books.
  • Law enforcement officers and criminologists are of the view that the real deterrent against crime is certainty and not the severity of punishment.

Way Forward

• Curb phenomenon of unreporting of rape cases: Crime victim surveys should get a clear idea of the magnitude of crime (instead of only relying on police figures and statistics)
  • E.g. Crime Victim Survey in Australia (32%) and the US (23%) reveal that only a few victims reported sexual assault due to stigma involved and lack of trust in police.
• Improve investigation and prosecution of cases: Acute shortage of women police officers, trained in sympathetic and supportive interviewing techniques, affects investigation.
• Improve justice delivery system: by increasing strength of judges in special courts set up to expedite the trial of rape cases.

Conclusion: Instead of the death penalty for rape, there is a need for improvement in the justice delivery system, removal of institutional prejudices against women, and gender sensitisation of society to overcome patriarchal culture.