Capital crime

Capital punishment has been abolished in most democracies. However, it still continues in India (also in USA, Japan, Singapore etc.). According to Amnesty annual report 2004: During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries. At least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. On top of the list are China (3,400), Iran (159), Vietnam (64) and USA (59). The actual numbers may be much higher.

Capital Punishment has come back to news in India after APJ Abdul Kalam asked for a revisit on this issue and the recent award of death sentence to the Red Fort attack suspects. In my personal opinion, capital punishment is a blatant crime. Considere these: Two of the most cited arguments for capital punishment are deterrence and solace for victim/ or victim's family.

Let’s take deterrence: Many researches have proved this argument false showing that life imprisonment is deterrence enough. Life imprisonment is onerous, gruesome, and never-ending with an option for reform. Death gives the accused relief within a flash. The one who suffers the most in the case of death penalty is not the accused, but his/ her family who may have lost their only breadowner (most accused are from poor family). And are the very hard nosed criminals or terrorists fearful of death? Don't we know the whole inspiration behind suicide bombers and desperados? And if you really believe that it acts as a deterrent then why not make it one hell of a deterrent? A public, slow and painful execution will be an even stronger deterrent as in Kafka's "The Penal Colony" wherein the sentence is inscribed on the body of accused through a unique machine till he dies. Do you have an appetite for that? Let’s stop the hypocrisy for once.

Now let’s take solace to victim/ victim's family: I believe that the victim or his family will find reasonable consolation if the worst possible sentence permitted under the system is given to the accused. So if life imprisonment is the maximum possible sentence (and not death); then the victim's family will be reasonably satisfied if the accused is given that. As an analogy, none of us are too depressed because we can't be the prime minister of our country. We are happy if we get most of our wants within reasonable expectations. So once the bar is set, victim's family will feel OK if the accused has been given the worst award from this bar if his crime is of that magnitude.

Also consider the irreversibility of the method and the potentially grave mistakes that could be done. Many people support the penalty saying that this is justice done. The same people talk openly on other occasions about how little faith they have on the police and legal system in India. How do they suddenly develop so much faith in the legal system when it comes to death penalty? We are so supportive of death penalty sometimes because it doesn't affect us. And we also get agitated through feelings of patriotism and one-dimensional religious morality. Put yourself in place of the wife/son/mother of the accused. Their man in grave is so hopeless than their man in jail.

In India no executions were carried out between 1994 and 2004 while DhananJoy Chatterjee was hanged in 2004. This is in the context of the practice in India, as described by the Supreme court that, "The death penalty is to be used in the "rarest of rare" cases'.

In 1977, just 16 countries had abolished capital punishment for all crimes. Today the figure stands at 86. I so wish we join this list soon