Hanging In The Balance: Pitfalls Of Capital Punishment
Author : ADITI SINGH 10 A
Crimes are like an age-old social illness that have plagued mankind since the beginning of history. New forms of brutal punishments kept coming up to reduce the rate of crimes, but to no avail. Capital punishment or death penalty was one of them. The debate whether the death penalty should be abolished or not is one of most long lasting and impassioned debates going on in the civil society and political sphere in India. Here, the question arises, is capital punishment really as effective as it is hailed to be?
In my view, death penalty is not the most effective way to punish criminals. The death penalty is hypocritical, that is, it condemns killing by killing people. Ironic, isn't it? Gandhiji once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Two wrongs can never make a right.
The death penalty is a preferred mode of punishment because it is permanent. However, it should be avoided because it is permanent. There is too much possibility that an innocent person could be punished for a crime they did not commit. An execution cannot be undone under any circumstances.
Supporters of death penalty argue that it is cheaper to execute a criminal than it is to keep them in prison for life. However, statistics speak a different language. Statistics show that the cost of putting a criminal to death, including all of the time and money spent in courts , far outweighs the cost of simply keeping them in prison.
If we look at our national crime statistics, death penalty has not proved to be a deterrent. The reality is that the death penalty is a barbaric exercise in which no civilized society should participate. Capital punishment is a flawed aspect of the judicial system in our country. So many instances prove that the criminal justice system (CJS) is riddled with errors, corrupt officials, and flawed practices, yet this system is still permitted to execute people.
The rigorous life in prison would be a far worse punishment than a swift death and in the case of terrorists, they took the job fully prepared to die for their cause. The death penalty serves only to assuage a misplaced public sense of retribution and as a tool for pandering politicians. Capital punishments kills people at once, but imprisonment for life kills them slowly.
I strongly feel, we have to reform our laws, especially for death penalty. Our laws should be such that a punishment should be so rigorous that it should remind not only to the offenders/ terrorists/culprits but also it should be a living example for the people around him about his inhuman acts. Moreover, punishments shouldn't be delayed so much that the sting of the punishment is gone. In this context, there is a need to expedite investigations at the hands of a well trained and equipped police system supported by fast track trials to reinforce the faith of the public in our legal system. In many cases, it takes ten-twelve years for the courts to take decisions. This should not be the case. It is not the severity, but the certainty of punishment which can act as deterrent for crimes.
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