Honourable Justice Verma!
Greetings!
Sir, more than harsher punishment, it is credible and timely punishment which can curb this menace
by instilling fear in the minds of miscreants.For example, punishment for
corruption in China is death penalty but still corruption is rampant in china.
In other words, more than death penalty, the cause shall be served by effective
implementation of laws and timely judicial
process. My suggestions regarding amendment in criminal laws pertaining to rape
are
1)
Death
penalty should be imposed for the following categories of Rape
1. Rape with children (as it has far
reaching pscyholgical consequences)
2. Rape with old women
3. Rape with psychologically unwell
women
4. Gang rape, specially preplannned ones
eg.those intended to settle caste/political scores like the infamous Bhanwari Devi case of 1992 (vishaka
guidelines)
5. Rape by Policemen
2)
Death
penalty should NOT be imposed on
other ‘less heinous’ cases because
1. Rape is a crime which can occur on
the spur of the moment (analogous to cold blooded and hot blooded murders)
2. Provision
of death penalty can be easily misused, eg. By women for revenge after consensual sex ; by police
by filing bogus cases against innocent persons. The superintendent of police of
my district in a recent interview informed that almost half of the present
alleged rape cases are bogus
My other suggestions are
1)
separate
Fast track courts for dealing with
cases relating to sexual violence
2)
Time bound implementation of judicial and police formalities
like filing of charge sheet etc
3)
Provision
of free psychiatiric assistance to
the victim. Psychological Diseases like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
are very common amongst victims
4)
Compulsory
gender sensitivity training to
policemen, all organized sector employees (Govt and Private firms) and students
5)
Making
candidates Ineligble for contexting
any level of elections (from Panchayat level
to Parliament) if found guilty in any
case related to sexual misconduct
6)
Stricter
punishment for legislators and other
govt officials found guilty of molestation charges
