Skip to main content

Feminists oppose death verdict to rape convicts: 'Politicians capitalising on pain'

Counterview Desk
Following dismissal of the curative petitions filed by two convicts in the December 2012 case, feminists from across the country issued a statement to appeal to the President of India to stop the execution of all four persons convicted in the case. The signatories included organisations working on women and children’s rights as well as queer and trans rights, disability, environment and other people’s movements.
Among the individual signatories are leading names on women’s rights such as Uma Chakravarti, Veena Shatrughna, Indira Jaising, Nivedita Menon, Lalita Ramdas, Mary E John, Rachana Mudraboyina and others; children’s rights activists and groups; writers and artists such as Gogu Shyamala and Sheba Chhachhi, senior journalists Pamela Phillipose, filmmakers Anand Patwardhan, Nishtha Jain, and hundreds of others.

Text:

As individuals and groups who have been engaged in the struggles for women’s rights, safety and justice, it is often presumed that we would support the demand for death penalty for sexual assault.
But for decades, even as we have consistently fought to make the world safer for women through changes in policy and law, and social awareness by breaking the silence on these heinous crimes, we have consistently argued against the death penalty for sexual assault, as well as, all other crimes.
In the light of the death warrant being issued on 7 January 2020 against Akshay Kumar, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh convicted of the brutal assault, gangrape and murder of a 23-year old medical intern in Delhi in December 2012, we reiterate our position against the death penalty.
We understand the inexorable pain of the parents and other loved ones of women and children who are raped and, in many cases, killed. However, efforts by politicians and parties, courts and other vested interests to capitalise on their pain and make the case a matter of the nation’s honour, give false hope that the harshest punishment of death will prevent all such cases in the future.
The bare truth is that even after the Indian state executed Auto (Gowri) Shankar in 1995, Ranga and Billa (Kuljeet Singh and Jasbir Singh) in 1982, and Dhananjay Chatterjee in 2004 for rape/s and murder, sexual assaults and killings continue unabated.

We are against the death penalty because:

  1. The death penalty is not a deterrent against crimes, as evidence from across the world shows. In America, where the use of the death penalty varies between states, homicide rates of states with the death penalty are 48-100% higher compared to states without it. Studies in Canada have illustrated that homicide rates remained significantly lower after abolition of the death penalty. And a 2018 multi-country study across 11 nations which have abolished capital punishment also affirms the same. 
  2. There is no short cut to justice and safety. The death penalty often becomes a short cut when, in fact, there is a need to focus on long term social change, and the State’s failure to ensure the security of women. The only way to stop such crimes is the certainty that the criminal justice system will work with honesty, integrity, competence and fairness against every accused, irrespective of their social standing, power position, class, or caste. Instead, what the State is trying to do is to distract us by creating an ‘illusion of justice’, by selectively hanging people even as it protects others responsible for similar crimes. 
  3. Tragically, brutal sexual assaults occurs with frightening regularity and impunity in our country, especially against adivasi and Dalit women, workers in the unorganised sector, women with disabilities, hijras, kothis, trans and gender queer people, and sex workers. Additionally, during incidents of sectarian violence, women of certain castes and communities become targets of sexual assault, torture and murder. There have been, and continue to be, a large number of women similarly targeted in conflict areas such as Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, and Chhattisgarh. There is a need to understand the pervasiveness of this kind of violence on women and evolve punishments that act as true deterrents to the very large numbers of men who commit, and get away with, such crimes. 
  4. In the December 2012 case, violence was meted against the victim by strangers, which has rightly triggered a wide discourse on women’s safety in public spaces. However, the majority of sexual crimes are committed by members of their family, neighbours, friends, teachers, guardians and other acquaintances. Not surprisingly, therefore, reporting of such crimes remains abysmally low. In all these instances, the process of seeking justice is severely stacked against victim/survivors, and the conviction rate for reported sexual crimes remains as low as 26%! Consequently, most perpetrators of sexual violence enjoy a high degree of impunity, including being freed of all charges which we believe is the greatest cause for the continued prevalence of such violence. 
  5. We are not anti-punishment. Rather, we are pro-justice. Let us remember that the Justice Verma Committee, which was set up immediately after the December 2012 incident, stood against death penalty for sexual assault, and as did the Law Commission of India in its 262nd Report on The Death Penalty in 2015. 
No matter how heinous the crime, we believe that every human being has an inalienable right to life and holds the potential for reform, if only the State and society will commit themselves to it, instead of baying for blood. In this case, the blood of those convicted in the December 2012 case.
There is no quick answer to stopping sexual crimes. We need to walk together on the long and complicated path to dismantling patriarchal and caste/community-based privilege, impunity and power, and the pervasive misogyny based in customs, tradition, law, the courts, government and society.
We hope the President of India will commute the death sentence of the convicts of the December 2012 case to a lifetime in prison, and in doing so, the lead the nation towards the vision of a society based on equality and justice, not revenge and retribution.
---
Click HERE for list of those who have endorsed the statement

Comments

Anonymous said…
People who are aware of such heinous crimes against women in our society, such as social activists or civilians take an effort to stop the crime and bring a change in our society. During British rule, Gandhi followers have fought for freedom through silence, but other leaders like Bose, Bhagat Singh, and others have opted for violence. Even though the paths are different the destination is the same. I feel that the same principle is followed here. Some activists are trying to solve the problem of Rape in the form of pro-justice and the others by demanding the death penalty for the Rapists. The whole concept is dealing with social awareness and the welfare of the society to bring a better India in the future on both the angles. The 300+ activists who hold a board on a protest against the death penalty or some of the civilians among the 130Cr population of India who holds a candle and makes a protest march for the death penalty own the welfare of the society as being a part of it. But we all don't own her pain. We can look at her condition, cry at her incident, pray for her welfare, and make an effort for her living. But the pain belongs only to the victim. She got raped, she lost her life and dignity. She had to bear the rod on her body and the intestines that came out were hers. She lost her blood, suffered from pain and wanted to live in spite of getting badly injured physically and mentally. How much ever we debate about the circumstances and options, we don't own her life and pain to decide what is better to do with the Rapists. You are right with the fact, whether the society would change and women would return home safely even if they are hanged. But my doubt is when men are being so horrible even after the knowledge of the death penalty that leads to them and their families' destruction, then what would happen if there is no fear of death and disaster of their lives? And regarding Nirbhaya, or Disha or any other woman, the victim is the only person who takes the pain. Not the ones who visualizes the event or their condition. If this is not justice for the society, this would definitely be justice for the victim who has faced pain in actuality. Sharing an Ideology doesn't mean sharing the pain or torture. I am always in the path of the destination leading to a better society. But I can't afford the restlessness I have to face imagining the state and screams of the victim(who suffered the pain) by going against the death penalty of these cannibals. I liked the concept of reform of somebody's life as a justice. I really hope even if the victims can get a chance to rebuild their lives and lead a prosperous life they deserve. One last thing I want to say is, a Mistake can be forgiven since it can be Rectified. But not a SIN that can never make things to normal.

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.