[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 25



INDIA:

Court: depraved acts call for only one sentence  death


The Supreme Court has slapped death sentence on a man who raped and
murdered a 5-year-old girl and attempted to cover up the crime as an
accident. It asked trial courts and High Courts to award exemplary
punishment for offences against women.

"Rape is violation with violence of the private person of a woman  an
outrage by all means. By the very nature of the offence it is an obnoxious
act of the highest order. The physical scar may heal, but the mental scar
will always remain. When a woman is ravished, what is inflicted is not
merely physical injury but the deep sense of some deathless shame," said a
Bench consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat and M.K. Sharma.

Writing the judgment, Justice Pasayat said: "The fact that sweeping
changes were introduced in the statute reflects the legislative intent to
curb with an iron hand the offence of rape, which affects the dignity of a
woman. The law regulates social interests, arbitrates conflicting claims
and demands."

The Bench said: "Security of persons and property of the people is an
essential function of the state. It could be achieved through the
instrumentality of criminal law. Undoubtedly, there is a cross-cultural
conflict where living law must find an answer to the new challenges and
the courts are required to mould the sentencing system to meet the
challenges. The contagion of lawlessness would undermine social order and
lay it in ruins."

The Bench said: "Protection of society and stamping out criminal
proclivity must be the object of law which must be achieved by imposing
appropriate sentence. Therefore, law as the cornerstone of the edifice of
order should meet the challenges confronting society. By a deft
modulation, the sentencing process be stern where it should be, and
tempered with mercy where it warrants to be."

The Bench said: "Undue sympathy to impose inadequate sentence would do
more harm to the justice system to undermine the public confidence in the
efficacy of law, and society could not long endure under such serious
threats. It is, therefore, the duty of every court to award proper
sentence having regard to the nature of the offence and the manner in
which it was executed or committed, etc."

The judges said: "It is expected that the courts would operate the
sentencing system so as to impose such sentence which reflects the
conscience of society and the sentencing process has to be stern where it
should be. The court will be failing in its duty if appropriate punishment
is not awarded for a crime which has been committed not only against the
individual victim but also against the society to which the criminal and
the victim belong."

In the instant case, Bantu was awarded death sentence by an Agra trial
court for raping and killing a child. On appeal, the Allahabad High Court
confirmed the death sentence.

Dismissing his appeal against this judgment and confirming the death
sentence, the Supreme Court pointed out that "in order to camouflage the
serious kind of rape in a planned manner and after committing rape, the
appellant mercilessly inserted a wooden stick deep inside the fragile
vagina of the girl to the extent of 33 cm to cause her death, with a view
to masquerading the crime as an accident. The case falls in the rarest of
rare category. The depraved acts of the accused call for only one sentence
that is death sentence."

(source: The Hindu)