Capital Punishment

Much hue and cry was raised against capital punishment, when Rajiv Gandhi killers pleaded for mercy. When Kasab or Afsal was hanged, again there was noise about death sentence, though it mellowed down later. True.. a heinous crime should not be met by a death sentence. The logic appears to hold ground also because when killing is a crime, the same is applicable to the state sponsored killing also. But let us think of crimes like Nirbhaya rape. How can we tolerate such inhumane acts? If stringent punishments are not given, there cannot be a deterrent to stop or at least control the acts. There is an argument, like the one raised by the defense lawyer of the accused in Nirbhaya case, that the death sentence will not stop the rape in this country. In a country with 120 crore population, the perpetrators of rape and murder are just a handful. Majority of the citizens are law abiding, either out of God fear or afraid of punishments. It goes without saying that our criminal code is well drafted that the crime level is less though still the same is formidable. I feel that the Capital punishment must be spelled in the rarest of the rare cases as is prevalent now. Where the people involved have indirect role or minor role, especially in a terrorist strike, like the one in certain decided cases, the court may consider the kind of mental torture and the long lingering of the criminals in the dark cells of the prisons. The idea is wherever the judiciary feels that there is a ground to prove the self realization, the mercy petitions could be considered at least, at the President's level.