No Miscarriage Of Justice, Certainly Not This Time!

Crime has not been foreign to our country. In fact, we have witnessed high profile crimes and cases that eventually went forward to become national interests and also motivated changes in laws and order. One among these is the popular Delhi Gang Rape of 2012 that shook entire India and also made headlines across the world. This is one case that is classified among the ‘rarest of the rare’ cases and the entire world has been looking forward to the verdict against the accused.

Although all the living accused were sentenced to death (God knows when the sentence will be implemented though), the juvenile accused who was younger than 18 years of age at the time of the crime was sentenced to only three years according to the juvenile law. And, since the accused has served the three-year term now, he is set to walk free this December.

I have been seeing a lot of petitions being circulated requesting the Judiciary to prolong the punishment of the accused who is believed to have been the most dangerous and ruthless of all. Just because he was a minor at the time of committing the crime, of course, we cannot overlook the nature of the crime he committed.

Rape itself is among one of the most brutal crimes that one can commit. Destroying a woman completely, dragging out her internal body parts and attempting to kill her along with a male friend is surely not something that deserves a term of three years at a reformation centre. If the boy had the understanding and audacity of raping a woman and killing her, I don’t think he was anything lesser than the other accused just because he was not 18 years of age then.

Anyway, the number of petitions and pleas being made to the court to reconsider the victim’s sentence and put him behind the bars is certainly a good move. It is good to see that people are actually fighting for a girl who they did not know but are still concerned because India lost a braveheart daughter like her. Of course, despite the changes made in the law, rapes have not receded. But, if, in this case, the juvenile is tried in a way similar to that of adults, it will discourage minors from committing such crimes and create a fear in their mind.

We all think miscarriage of justice should not happen, at least not in this case!

What matters more? The age of the criminal or the crime?

In my last post, I had discussed on the topic of the increasing rape cases in India, their grave nature and how the problem has grown severe despite the Rape Law has been amended to cover a number of smaller crimes. Amending the Law was indeed a good step (let's not think about how many changes it brought or whether rape cases saw a fall). Today, when I hear the word 'rape', the first thing that comes to my mind is the Delhi Rape Case- A case that awakened the entire nation and brought the problems of women into limelight. As the terrific incident is near to complete an year, and even though the main accused were handed death penalty this year, do you think the brave-heart girl really got justice?

Trial for the juvenile accused in the fatal Delhi gang rape

As the world is set to celebrate Christmas and people are engrossed making new year plans, the parents of the girl are still fighting for justice. One of the accused in the case, being a juvenile, was convicted separately in the Juvenile Justice Court, where, according to the Juvenile Law, a maximum of three year jail term was awarded to the accused. My question here is, what is more important- whether the crime committed by an individual or his age? We all know about the horrendous nature of the Delhi rape case, the magnitude of the crime and also that the juvenile was the most destructive among them all. Of what the media reported, the juvenile is known to be the most violent culprit among the all- his beastly treatment left the girl completely destroyed who later succumbed to her injuries in Singapore.

Was the 3 year term enough?

Looking at the nature of the crime committed, was 3 years imprisonment an enough punishment for the accused? Has the brave-heart victim really got justice completely? We cannot imagine the agony the girl went through, the pain she experienced and even the slightest imagination brings goosebumps to us.And when all the men convicted had attempted the same crime, was it fair to leave the boy with such a meagre punishment merely considering  his age? I do not know whether the accused will give up the bad road and get converted ever in his life, however, it is certain that the brave victim would not obtain complete justice unless the accused is awarded punishment with regard to his crime and not age.

The history seems to be repeating..

Also considering the rape case of a young journalist in Mumbai at Sh

akti Mills, one of the accused has been recognized as a juvenile. If the accused is tried in a similar manner as the Delhi Rape Case accused was, don't you think it would leave an impression to the under-age guys out there that they could escape huge crimes easily? I do not mean to say that all juvenile criminals should be hanged to death. The crime committed by the accused should be considered well before any judgment is delivered.

A salute to the spirit of the brave-heart!