Death Is No Deterrent

On 5 May 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the high court judgment awarding death penalty to the four accused in the “Nirbhaya” case, involving the brutal gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in December 2012. The trial and conviction of the guilty in a time-bound manner is a welcome step.

However, the death sentence awarded by the lower courts, confirmed by the Supreme Court, and welcomed by many is not a cause for celebration. The Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) wishes to record its dissent on the death sentence awarded to the four accused. The death penalty is not just barbaric, but also fails to act as a deterrent. The executions of the accused in the high profile rape and murder cases of Geeta and Sanjay Chopra in 1982, or Hetal Parekh in 2004 have not in any way acted as deterrents; if they had, there would have been no Nirbhaya case nor would rape and murder be an everyday reality in India.