To Rape a Minor or not…, Her Choice!

I just came across this article titled, Woman booked for ‘raping’ son’s teen pal, wherein it is stated that she spiked the minor boy’ss drink and then raped him (oh! Sorry, rape is a wrong word here. She forced the minor boy to keep physical relationship, as definition of rape does not include forceful intercourse with a male). She also made a video recording of the incident and used to threaten the minor boy with the video recording who was just 16 years of age. It is stated that she also threatened the boy with filing of a false rape complaint against him.

Due to the ordeal, the boy lost interest in studies and was unable to mix up in the family, his health deteriorated and his behaviour changed. The news article states that the probe is currently on, no information of arrest of the accused woman is mentioned.

A few questions that come to mind are:

1. Why is the identity of the woman not disclosed by the media? If it were a man, his identity including photo would be all over the media.
2. Why is there no information of arrest of the woman till now? If this was a man he would have been immediately arrested and people would have been on the streets. He could even have been lynched as has happened in the recent past in other parts of India.

This brings us to 2 conclusions:

1. We live in a society where male disposability is the norm. No one is concerned about the ordeal faced by this minor boy in his formative years. The incident is not even termed as rape. It is classified as forced physical relationship thereby undermining it.
2. Why is the perpetrator, who is a woman in this case, treated with kid gloves and not being subjected to ‘EQUAL’ treatment. Does equality only means getting more benefits?

Let us analyse the Indian Law in this aspect. Forced sexual intercourse with a minor comes under 2 statutes, Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code which defines rape states:

A man is said to commit “rape” if he-—

penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person; or

inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, not being the penis, into the vagina, the urethra or anus of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person; or

manipulates any part of the body of a woman so as to cause penetration into the vagina, urethra, anus or any of body of such woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person; or

applies his mouth to the vagina, anus, urethra of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person,

under the circumstances falling under any of the following seven descriptions:—

First.—Against her will.

Secondly.—Without her consent.

Thirdly.—With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested, in fear of death or of hurt.

Fourthly.—With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.

Fifthly.—With her consent when, at the time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome Substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent.

Sixthly.—With or without her consent, when she is under eighteen years of age.

Seventhly.—When she is unable to communicate consent

The starting of the definition is “A man is said to commit “rape” if he”, therefore only a man can commit a rape. A woman cannot commit such an act as per the IPC. Therefore the acts committed, such as above donot find a place here, hence the woman clearly cannot be tried for rape, which is precisely what she did. Therefore this brings us to a point of ‘Equality’; Article 14 of the Constitution states that “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth”. Does the minor boy have the same level of protection? Is it equality? Is the law gender neutral? You decide!

Now let us analyse the provisions of POCSO. The statute defines 2 types of sexual assaults on minors: a) Penetrative Sexual Assault, and b) Non Penetrative Sexual Assault. Penetrative Sexual Assault is defined under section 3 of the Act:

A person is said to commit “penetrative sexual assault” if—

(a) he penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of a child or makes the child to do so with him or any other person; or

(b) he inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, not being the penis, into the vagina, the urethra or anus of the child or makes the child to do so with him or any other person; or

(c) he manipulates any part of the body of the child so as to cause penetration into the vagina, urethra, anus or any part of body of the child or makes the child to do so with him or any other person; or

(d) he applies his mouth to the penis, vagina, anus, urethra of the child or makes the child to do so to such person or any other person

If we analyse the definition of penetrative sexual assault, it can “ONLY” be committed by a man, a woman cannot commit such an act (every sub-clause starts with a ‘He’). Therefore in this instant case where the minor boy was sexually assaulted by this woman, it is not defined under penetrative sexual assault. Why; again the definition is ‘NOT’ gender neutral and the minor is not ‘EQUALLY’ protected.

Then, what crime is said to be committed by this woman? It is ‘non-penetrative sexual assault’. Yes that is correct it is a minor offense. Let us read the definition of sexual assault as per section 7:

Whoever, with sexual intent touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child or makes the child touch the vagina, penis, anus or breast of such person or any other person, or does any other act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration is said to commit sexual assault.

So in essence, such a gruesome act comes under the definition of non-penetrative sexual assault. Now what is the difference, would be the next question. The difference friends is the punishment.

The punishment for penetrative sexual assault is minimum 7 years extendable to imprisonment for life (Section 4). And the punishment for non-penetrative sexual assault is minimum 3 years extendable to 5 years.

So in simple terms we draft our laws in a gender biased manner so that criminal women are treated with kid gloves and let off without any repercussions. Further, crimes committed by them are not even defined as crimes (rape by women does not come under the IPC). No wonder serious crimes by women have increased exponentially (refer to my previous article titled ‘The Fairer Criminals’) over the past decade.

The 2000 American Association of University Women (AAUW) data indicate that 57.2 percent of all students report a male offender and 42.4 percent a female offender with the Cameron et al. study reporting nearly identical proportions as the 2000 AAUW data (57 percent male offenders vs. 43 percent female offenders).

Schwartz, Barbara K. and Cellini, Henry R have estimated as many as 63% of sex abusers may be female in their paper titled “Female sex offenders”. The sex offender: Corrections, treatment, and legal practice. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute.

If the incidences of female sexual abusers are as high as 63% then why are the rape laws not gender neutral? Is “Equality” not a doctrine enshrined by our constitution?

Let us all Stand Up for a Cause…

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Source: Wikipedia

Note: Do feel free to comment on the article if you have any concerns with the same. Your concerns will be appropriately responded / updated

Taking Cognizance of Third Gender & their Basic Rights

Recently I came across a news article titled, India votes against gay rights for UN employees. The UN had provided certain benefits for same-sex partners of UN staff and a resolution for opposing the benefits was promulgated which was supported by India. And it brings us back to LGBT rights and the infamous section 377 of IPC.

On April 15, 2014, the hon’able Supreme Court of India passed a landmark judgement promoting the rights of the Transgender (TG) community in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India and others (Writ Petition (Civil) no. 400 of 2012). As per para 113 of the judgement:

Therefore, gender identification becomes very essential component which is required for enjoying civil rights by this community. It is only with this recognition that many rights attached to the sexual recognition as ‘third gender’ would be available to this community more meaningfully viz. the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to marry, the right to claim a formal identity through a passport and a ration card, a driver’s license, the right to education, employment, health so on.

Further, the para 114 states:

Further, there seems to be no reason why a transgender must be denied of basic human rights which includes Right to life and liberty with dignity, Right to Privacy and freedom of expression, Right to Education and Empowerment, Right against violence, Right against Exploitation and Right against Discrimination. Constitution has fulfilled its duty of providing rights to transgenders. Now it’s time for us to recognize this and to extend and interpret the Constitution in such a manner to ensure a dignified life of transgender people. All this can be achieved if the beginning is made with the recognition that TG as third gender.

Further, the para 115 states:

 In order to translate the aforesaid rights of TGs into reality, it becomes imperative to first assign them their proper ‘sex’. As is stated earlier, at the time of birth of a child itself, sex is assigned. However, it is either male or female. In the process, the society as well as law, has completely ignored the basic human right of TGs to give them their appropriate sex categorization. Up to now, they have either been treated as male or female. This is not only improper as it is far from truth, but indignified to these TGs and violates their human rights.

Having this backdrop in mind, the hon’able Supreme Court ordered that TGs be recognized as a third gender for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of our Constitution.

Let us now come to the question of marriage of TGs. Let’s analyse the marriage acts, for instance, the Special Marriage Act 1954 provides condition of a valid marriage in section 4 (c):

the male has completed the age of twenty-one years and the female the age of eighteen years.

The words used are specifically ‘male’ and ‘female’. There is no mention of TGs. Therefore only a male can marry a female as of date, though we do have a third gender – TGs. For the TGs to get the right to marry or enter into same-sex ‘partnerships’, the marriage acts needs to be amended or a new statute may need to be enacted giving these partnerships legal recognition. This would atleast ensure that the TGs can enjoy most of their essential civil rights.

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Do feel free to comment on the article if you have any concerns with the same. Your concerns will be appropriately responded / updated

Benefits of Legalizing Prostitution

Note: For Mature Audiences Only.

Vaastav Foundation – The Crisis Angels of My Life (Part 2)

This is Part 2 to the Vaastav Foundation – The Crisis Angels of My Life.  This article is written for Who’s your Crisis Angel? An Indi-Change activity  with http://incrisisrelief.org/ in association with Indiblogger.in

You may call Vaastav Foundation Helpline numbers listed below 24×7 in case of distress:

Vaastav SIF One Helpline Number: +91- 8882 498 498

The letters written by the survivors are given below as how Vaastav counselorswere their Crisis Angels:

Related articles

• Vaastav Foundation – The Crisis Angels of My Life (standupforacause.wordpress.com)

Vaastav Foundation – The Crisis Angels of My Life

Vaastav Angel saving souls

Vaastav Foundation, is an NGO based out of Mumbai working towards equal human rights for both the genders. The organization assists families in distress and crisis who suffer from toxic domestic relationships. They assist people who have suffered false dowry and domestic violence cases.

The organization is a part of a network of over 40 NGOs all over India which conducts weekly meetings in over 20 cities. In these meeting they try to create a positive space for men where they can be heard without being judged. Meetings for Vaastav Foundation regularly conducts meetings at Veer Saavarkar Udyan, Borivali-W from 11 am to 2 pm and at Chintamani Deshmukh Garden, Mulund-E between 5pm to 7 pm every Sunday to help men in distress. Any one can attend these meetings and can also call the All India Help Line Numbers.

After visiting the Vaastav meetings I leant about the suicide stats of men which is that every 8 minutes a married man commits suicide in India and about the rampant misuse of Sec 498A of IPC, where more than 90% of the cases are found to be frivolous.

As can be seen above about 2 times more married men commit suicide as compared to married women which shows the social pressure that they are facing.

A Survivor

498A is the provision under IPC which deals with husband and his family subjecting wife to cruelty for dowry. It is a cognizable, non-bailable and a non-compoundable offense. Vaastav Foundation gets cases where the entire family of the husband such as his mother, sisters, bhabhis, other female relatives, ailing parents are booked under this section and are arrested. Even people who came to help the victim were booked. There have been cases where a dog’s name has been put in the complaint and even a 2 month old baby got an anticipatory bail under this section. In the past the Supreme Court had raised concerns on the misuse of this section and had told the government to amend it.

Vaastav is being currently being funded primarily out of the personal sources of the affected persons.

The Vasstav’s selfless Angels and Counselors give their time and provide guidance to the victims and their families.

The Vaastav Angels

Vaastav SIF One Helpline Number: +91- 8882 498 498

Vaastav Foundation really is a Crisis Angel for many families, do read how hundreds of families below have benefited from Vaastav and misuse of gender biased laws.

This article is written for Who’s your Crisis Angel? An Indi-Change activity  with http://incrisisrelief.org/ in association with Indiblogger.in

No Automatic Arrest in 498A Complaints

In the recent landmark judgement by the Apex Court, it was directed that there should not be any automatic arrest for cases under section 498A of the IPC until provisions of Section 41 of Cr.PC are satisfied.

Section 498A of the IPC was inserted in the code in 1983 with a backdrop to curb torture of married women by the in-laws for dowry. As per the Supreme Court in B.S. Joshi vs. State of Haryana, the object of introducing Section 498A in the Indian Penal Code was to prevent the torture to a woman by her husband or by relatives of her husband. Section 498A was added with a view to punishing a husband and his relatives who harass or torture the wife to coerce her or her relatives to satisfy unlawful demands of dowry.

Though the backdrop of the provision was to prevent the menace of dowry there were many instances where a complaint was filed with oblique motives. The acquittal of the accused does not wipe out the ignomy suffered during the trial period. By the misuse of the provision a new legal terrorism can be unleashed. The provision is intended to be used a shield and not assassins’ weapon, observed the Supreme Court in Sushil Kumar Sharma vs Union Of India.

There have been many articles stating that the recent SC judgement has weakened the anti-dowry laws. Certain reasons for such a statement were:

1. Complainant required to negotiate with perpetrator: It is said that the complainant is forced to negotiate with the perpetrators. The incidences of frivolous cases has increased over the decade. In 2001 ‘one’ frivolous 498A case was filed per 53 minutes which has increased to ‘one’ frivolous case in 33 minutes till 2010[i]. This is a whooping 62% jump in 10 years. Due to such high incidences of frivolous cases, there could be a situation where in case of a preliminary inquiry and no merit being found in the case, a reconciliation may be promoted to save the marriage.
2. Low conviction rate does not imply misuse: The statement on the face sounds true, but to correctly substantiate, we must see the incidents of frivolous cases, which is as high as one case in 33 minutes. As a percentage, frivolous cases are in the range of 17% – 22%. The chart below on 498A incidents shows a clear picture of high frivolous cases.

Let us understand what does this judgement talks about. The judgement states that there should not be any mechanical arrest in 498A cases. The police should investigate and if there is a prima facie case, should they proceed to arrest. In case of a mechanical arrest, which was prevalent earlier, but just an accusation by the wife, the whole family of the husband used to be behind bars. There have been cases where the entire family of the husband such as his mother, sisters, bhabhis, other female relatives, ailing parents were booked under this section and were arrested. Even people who came to help the victim were booked. There have been cases where a dog’s name has been put in the complaint and even a 2 month old baby got an anticipatory bail under this section.

Looking at the above extent of misuse the hon’able SC has given directions to implement the CrPC section 41 in case of arrest for crimes where punishment is under 7 years (such crimes include 498A crimes).

Prior to arrest,:

1. Police Officeris satisfied that such arrest is necessary –
   1. To prevent such person from committing any further offense ;
   2. For proper investigation of the offense;
   3. To prevent such person from causing the evidence of the offense to disappear or tampering with such evidence in any manner;
   4. To prevent such person from making any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or to the police officer;
   5. As unless such person is arrested, his presence in the Court whenever required cannot be ensured
2. The arresting officer also needs toensure:
   1. Why arrest?
   2. Is it really required?
   3. What purpose it will serve?
   4. What object it will achieve?

The constitution of India, provides the most cherished guarantee in the world as per article 21, Protection of Life and Personal Liberty. This fundamental right states that personal liberty of a citizen will not be taken away without the process established by law. The process of law for arrests is given in Section 41 of CrPC, which is as discussed above.

I fail to understand how does arresting a person as per this process has weakened the anti-dowry laws.

Let us all Stand Up for a Cause…

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[i] NCRB: Frivolous cases include: a) cases withdrawn by the govt. during investigation, b) cases withdrawn by the govt, c) cases compounded or withdrawn, d) cases not investigated or in which investigation was refused, e) cases declared false on account of mistake of fact or of law

Note: Do feel free to comment on the article. Your views will be appropriately responded and/or the article will be suitably modified.

Can Domestic Violence be filed against Daughter-in-law?

As per a HelpAge India report, daughter-in-law emerged as the major abuser of the elderly. Now abuse of a daughter-in-law is protected under various special laws of the country, whereas no such law is for the elderly. An interesting question arises, can an abused elderly mother-in-law take protection of any law against abuse by her daughter-in-law?

We will analyse this question in this article.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (“Domestic Violence Act”) was enacted by the parliament in 2005 to provide for an effective protection of women who are victims of violence of any kind within the four walls of the house. Therefore the intention of the act was to safeguard women from domestic violence.

The domestic violence can be invoked only if persons are living in a Domestic Relationship which is defined u/s 2(f) as:

“domestic relationship” means a relationship between two persons who live or have, at any point of time, lived together in a shared household, when they are related by consanguinity, marriage, or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption or are family members living together as a joint family.

Therefore, based on the above definition all family members living together as a joint family are considered to be in a domestic relationship.

The person who is facing domestic violence and can take shelter under the act is defined under section 2(a) as:

“aggrieved person” means any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the respondent;

Therefore, any women in a domestic relationship and subjected to domestic violence can take shelter under the act. The person who are perpetrators of violence against whom she can proceed is defined under section 2(q) as:

“respondent” means any adult male person who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person and against whom the aggrieved person has sought any relief under this Act. Provided that an aggrieved wife or female living in a relationship in the nature of a marriage may also file a complaint against a relative of the husband or the male partner.

This definition is in two parts, the first part defines the respondent as male members and the proviso also allows the women to proceed against any female relative of the husband or the male partner.

Ingredients:

There are three ingredients for taking recourse under the act:

1. Recourse is available to women
2. Who are in a domestic relationship
3. Against a respondent

Pertinent Question:

Now we come to the pertinent question, can a mother-in-law take shelter under this act against domestic violence conducted by her daughter-in-law? The answer is ‘Yes’. Do refer to the above ingredients to take shelter under this act.

1. Any woman can be an aggrieved person, the only qualification is that she ought to be in a domestic relationship.
2. A domestic relationship is not only a relationship of husband and wife but also includes persons living in a joint family.
3. The protection is available against a respondent, which includes any female relative of her husband or male partner.

Hence, based on the above, protection under Domestic Violence Act can be taken by an elderly mother-in-law against her abusive daughter-in-law.

The Delhi High Court in the case of Kusum Lata Sharma vs State & Anr, had allowed a mother-in-law to proceed against the daughter-in-law as a respondent under the Domestic Violence Act.

India – Rape Statistics

The total number of frivolous cases and acquittals (as a percentage of cases reported) during a year has been consistently over 50%, nearing 70% in a few years and touching 71% for 2003. Such a high number of frivolous cases and acquittals is a very serious concern as the identity of the rape victims were protected who filed the complaints and the accused identity was made public. Presently in India, one accusation from a woman makes the man a criminal, one accusation destroys his career and one accusation drains out his savings on legal recourses for defending himself. The woman gets a public prosecutor (ie. an attorney appointed by the state to fight the case on her behalf). There is no accountability whatsoever for filing a frivolous complaint by the woman primarily because of –

• Her identity being protected, therefore filing a frivolous complaint has no public backlash. Whereas the accused’s life is destroyed due to her frivolous complaint
• As a public prosecutor is provided to the woman, there is no financial drain on her resources
• There are hardly any consequences for filing a false rape case. (though a perjury case may be filed)

False rape complaints are a menace to the society and stringent action should be taken against them, let us all Stand up for a Cause…

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The percentage has been calculated as a percentage of the number of incidents reported during the year

Frivolous Cases includes: a) Cases compounded or withdrawn, b) cases declared false on account of mistake of fact or of law, c) cases not investigated or in which investigation was refused, d) cases withdrawn by the govt., and e) cases withdrawn by the govt. during investigation.

Data Source: NCRB Software for analysis Crime Info

Related articles

• False Rape Charges on the Rise – (Part 2) (standupforacause.wordpress.com)
• False Rape Charges on the Rise (standupforacause.wordpress.com)
• The many shades of rape cases in Delhi (thehindu.com)

Hang Juvenile Rapists?

The burning issue these days is should the Juvenile Rapists be hanged?

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Let us understand a bit of law for a better grasp of the issue as per Section 83 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) any act committed by a child above 7 years of age and below 12, who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge of the nature and consequences of his conduct on that occasion is not to be considered as an offence. Therefore, rape if committed by a person over 12 years of age is automatically a crime and a punishable offence. Therefore the reasoning given by proponents of hang the juvenile rapists that such acts are not considered as crime is incorrect. Such acts are considered as crimes.

About The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (Act)

The Act is the legal framework under which juveniles (individuals below 18 years of age), who commit a crime are tried and rehabilitated. The primary motive of the Act is to ‘Treat and Rehabilitate’ juveniles. The Act was brought in compliance of Child Rights Convention 1989 of the United Nations. The objectives of the Act are:

• To consolidate and amend the law relating to juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, by providing for proper care, protection and treatment by catering to their development needs, and by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposition of matters in the best interest of children and for their ultimate rehabilitation through various institutions established
• To Adhere to the constitutional provisions which are:
  • Article 15(3): Special Provisions for women and children
  • Article 39 (e): That the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength
  • Article 39 (f): That children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment

Therefore the Act was primarily for rehabilitation of juveniles who have strayed towards crime so that they can become contributing members to the society.

Understanding Punishment:

Before we jump on #HangTheRapist bandwagon, it is critical to understand the concept and theories of punishment. Punishment typically serve 5 purposes:

• Deterrent Theory of Punishment: Punishment’s primary purpose is to show the futility of crime, thereby teaching a lesson to others. The ideology behind this type of punishment is that crime is committed to further the interest of the criminal, against the well being of the society. The deterrent theory tries to make crime an expensive affair making it a bad bargain for the criminals. The drawback of this theory is that crime is often committed in the heat of the moment and the criminal does not have the wherewithal at that moment to weigh his/her acts, hence the desired effects are generally not seen under this theory.

In an interesting judgement of Phul Singh vs State Of Haryana, the young accused had raped a 24 year old neighbour. The hon’able Supreme Court had held, the appellant is a youth barely 22 with no criminal antecedents save this offence. A man like the appellant has a reasonable prospect of shaping into a balanced person, given propitious social environs, curative and congenial work and techniques of internal stress release or of reformatory self expression. The hon’able court observed, the incriminating company of lifers and others for long may be counter-productive, and in this perspective, we blend deterrence with correction and reduce the sentence to rigorous imprisonment for two years.

• Preventive Theory of Punishment: This theory focuses on preventing the crime by disabling the criminal. Historically maiming was considered to be an effective method of prevention, ie. cut the hand of a thief etc… The barbaric act of maiming has been abolished and been converted to imprisonment where the criminal is put behind bars so that he/she is prevented from committing the crime till he/she is behind bars.
• Reformative Theory of Punishment: The ideology behind this theory is that a person may commit a crime due weakness of the character of the person. Here the focus is to strengthen the character of the criminal so that he/she may not become a victim of his/her own temptation. Here the criminals are sent to the prison to be reformed and turn a new leaf so that when they are released they can become law abiding and contributing citizens of the society.
• Retributive Theory of Punishment: In simple terms retributive theory means that the criminals ‘pays’ for what he/she has done. The state tries to avenge the pain of the wronged person. The idea behind this theory is evil should be treated by evil ie. an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The theory rests on the moral satisfaction the wronged person gets by seeing the pain being inflicted on the criminal.
• Compensating Theory of Punishment: The object of this theory is to compensate the victim of the crime. The theory suggests that the crime comes from the fountain of greed and if the ill-gotten gains of the crime are made to return to the victim, this fountain would dry up thereby reducing crime. A severe limitation of this theory is that many crimes are not committed due to economic motives.

In essence a criminal justice system ought to have a judicious mix of the above punishments and should try and remove crime not the criminals…

In Ramesh Kaushik vs B. L. Vig, Superintendent, the hon’able Supreme Court stated that the fundamental fact of prison reforms comes from our constitutional recognition that every prisoner is a person and personhood holds the human potential which, if unfolded, makes a robber a Valmiki and a sinner a saint.

Let us now analyse the question at hand ‘Hang the Juvenile Rapists’. Rape as a crime, primarily has 2 motives Sex and Power. As per the research, sex is the prime motivator for rape, thereby it is typically a crime committed in the heat of the moment. The criminal is of a weak character and unable to restrain his urges to commit a crime. Further, in case of juveniles, the criminal majorly does not have the sufficient maturity to understand his/her acts coupled with the weakness of character. Thereby the most fruitful punishment theory in such a case is the ‘Reformative Theory’. Having a stricter punishment will not be a deterrent to such a crime as the motives are different and out of the control of the juvenile, further, preventive theory will also not be fruitful as the criminal is not a habitual one. Compensative theory is not possible as the motive was not economic.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 therefore correctly comprehends the mental make up of a juvenile offender and provides them an opportunity to reform which is possible at this tender age. The sprit of vengeance of the retributive theory is also met as the offender is put behind bars for 3 years to contemplate and reform into a law-abiding citizen.

Is capital punishment a cure for crimes?

In simple terms the answer is ‘NO’, reasons given below:

• In US, the states which have abolished death penalties have a considerably lower serious crime rates. Hence, it is safe to state that death penalty does not have any deterrent effect.
• The correct thing to do is finish the crime and not the criminal. Death penalty is finishing the criminal and not the crime
• Are our laws of evidence and laws of procedure foolproof? Does it always lead us to the truth? Can there be no judicial errors? In such a scenario death penalty is not the correct sentence as once awarded it cannot be revoked.
• Further, even consensual sex can be termed as rape such as promise of marriage cases etc. Consensual sex by a juvenile with a person of the same age is defined as rape (see definition of rape). Should we hang the boy having consensual sex with a girl of the same age?
• False rape cases have also increased in the recent past as mentioned in Link1 and Link2, punishments awarded in such cases cannot be revoked

Conclusion: My appeal to everyone, think before following a ‘fad’. Every action has certain consequences, understand them. Understand why justice system is there what does it plan to achieve, how does it plan to achieve its stated objectives. Understand the psyche of the crime and criminal before coming to a conclusion. In the article above I have tried to bring out all the different facets of the debate coming to a conclusion that #HangTheRapists will not reduce rapes and will be contrary to the juvenile justice system. Further, justice system is not a system to get vengeance but a system to protect and improve the society. Providing harsher punishments, which donot meet the desired objectives, is tilting the sclaes towards vengeance away from justice.

What do you want, let us all Stand Up for a Cause…

Percentage Increase in Arrests for Serious Crimes – Men & Women

Below is the chart showing percentage increase of arrests for serious crimes for men and women from 2001 – 2010.

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Source: NCRB Software for analysis ‘Crime Info’. The detailed article link is The Fairer Criminals