INDIA― HANG THE RAPISTS
The decision of the Supreme Court of New Delhi to send the four rapists who were involved in a gang rape of a young lady in December, 2012 to the gallows has been warmly welcomed throughout India, especially by the women and more particularly by Ranjana Kumari, the activist for the women’s rights.
In fact on the 16th December, 2012 Jyoti Singh, a young medical student of 23 was gang-raped by six men on board a bus before she was thrown out onto the road. Two weeks later she died in a hospital in Singapore. That sordid and barbarous act had aroused a general outcry and indignation throughout India.
In India thousands of women are raped annually. But the gang rape of Jyoti Singh was an exceptional one in the sense that after they had raped her in the bus, she was thrown out onto the road which apparently led to her death two weeks later. It is that element of homicide in the wake of the collective rape which had motivated the judge to pronounce the death sentence for the rapists.
This affair can be characterized as a double crime― rape and murder. The verdict of the Court is definitely a just deserts for the rapists. A jail sentence would have been a lenient retribution. After the verdict, the judge Banumathi said «s’il y a bien une affaire qui nécessite la peine de mort, alors c’est celle-ci.» The sentence was warmly applauded in the court-room.
This judgment will definitely go down in history and send a strong warning to would-be rapists and criminals. The Supreme Court of New Delhi could not have done otherwise to clamp down on the number of rapes in India. In 2015 more than 34,000 cases of rapes had been registered along with 2,199 only in New Delhi, the capital.
Anyhow the decision of the Supreme Court in New Delhi to send the four rapists to the gallows cannot be but a bold and praiseworthy initiative. It is an example to the whole world, including Mauritius to shield our women against these devils. The rape and death of that young lady made worldwide headlines.
However, it is sad to note that this heinous crime has not been highlighted in our local press apart from «Sunday Times» which gave it a very fair coverage. Is it because the four rapists have been convicted to death? We all know that most of our media is against capital punishment.
If this case had occurred in Mauritius, the four rapists would have escaped with a jail sentence coupled with a balanced diet at the expense of the tax-payers. And if the masses had vociferated death penalty for their atrocious crime, there would have been Jack, Rama, Deva, Courona and others who would have leapt to their defence and evoked human rights to come to their rescue.
India is the largest democracy in the world where Capital Punishment is still part and parcel of its legislation. This judicial element has been maintained as a deterrent and retributive justice for criminal offences. Here in Mauritius our rapists and criminals are covered by human rights which shield them from the gallows and entitle them to a human treatment and a decent stay in prison.
«Encore une fois un gros bravo» to the Supreme Court of New Delhi for convicting the four rapists to the gallows.
«L’Exemple à suivre!»
By Raj Paneken
