By Amiya Kumar Kushwaha
New Delhi [India], Mar 21 : The hanging of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case is being lauded and welcomed by prosecutors, families of rape victims and the general public alike.
Many prosecutors, who have dealt with gruesome rape cases like this, believe that the execution will help in setting an example, creating an environment of fear among criminals and reducing such heinous crimes against women.
Public Prosecutor Satwinder Kaur, who fought the abduction, rape and murder case of a 19-year-old girl in 2012, lauded the death sentence and said that it will send a strong message to the society.
A trial court has also awarded capital punishment to three convicts for killing, mutilating and disposing of the body of the 19-year-old girl, which was found in Haryana in 2012. Delhi High Court had later upheld the capital punishment in the case.
"The convicts in the Nirbhaya case had also shown such brutality in committing the crime and therefore the death penalty was last resort for their action," Kaur said.
Senior Public Prosecutor AT Ansari, who fought the rape and murder case of an 82-year-old widow at her residence in South Delhi in 2014 by her domestic help, also expressed similar opinion and added that this hanging has satisfied the conscious of society.
"Certainly this case has sent a sternest possible message to the society that if you indulge in crimes of such nature, you are likely to be condemned to death in the same manner," he said.
Ansari said that the alarm caused by this case generated an exceptional angle and resentment in the society leading to a demand for the punishment not less than the death to the perpetrators.
"Even though the courts do not take into account such factors while awarding punishments, in some way or another, this hanging has satisfied the conscious of society to the maximum possible extent," he added.
However, the family members of the elderly victim said that the execution of Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case convicts will not prevent more such ghastly incidents from happening. According to the family members, the delay in the delivery of justice system also needs to be addressed.
The alleged use of delay tactics by the Nirbhaya convicts was also criticised by the father of a 25-year-old woman, who was raped by an Uber driver in a cab in 2014. The desolated father urged the defence counsels in such cases to maintain decorum while availing legal remedies and not to file unnecessary petitions to delay the trial.
Public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava, who contested the rape case in Uber cab, said that strict punishment will help in reducing crimes as it will create fear among the criminals, who take an easy ride of the criminal justice system thinking nothing can happen to them.
( With inputs from ANI )