A quick fix that is unlikely to deter child rapists
Even in the most infamous of terrorrelated cases, the death penalty is rarely carried out in India
Iwrite this piece wearing many hats. I am a lawyer, a woman and a mother of two teenage daughters. My girls seethe with indignation at reports on the rape of minor girls. They want answers. The truth is I have none. As a society, we have failed our women. That is one half of us.
When the December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi happened, we thought enough was enough. But the public protests that culminated in the Verma Committee Report and the enhanced punishment seem to make little difference to the many monsters around us.
While the death penalty is controversial, capital punishment remains on our statute books for the most abhorrent of crimes and already applies to a situation in which the rape victim dies or is reduced to a vegetative state. Is there really a debate about whether the rape of a child under 12 falls within the category of most abhorrent crimes? That said, providing death penalty as one of the possible punishments for raping a girl under 12 (the perpetrator will mostly still get life imprisonment) is a quick fix that is unlikely to generate the desired deterrence. Since most sexual crimes against minors take place in the confines of a home, often by a relative, the victim is likely to be silenced against complaining, particularly because the consequences can be death for the offender. Death sentences are rarely executed in India. Even in the most infamous of terror cases, matters stretch on for decades before the sentence is carried out. The punishment is therefore unlikely to achieve deterrence.
The social reality is that sexual crimes are likely to be on the rise rather than decline. In times when women stayed cloistered, the scope for sexual crimes remained confined to the home. As they get ahead in various spheres of life, they must brace themselves for more crimes. While the criminal justice system needs to get into shape with many more no-nonsense women judges and a quick process, start to finish, it is not the solution.
What’s the answer then? The approach has to be prophylactic. If we can’t change the mindset of grown men, we can catch them young. Ideally that must begin at home. Boys must be sensitised against sexism and taught to stand up against others who harm or harass women. Girls must be taught self-defence in school — it is as important to their survival as a midday meal. We can take a few lessons from Kenya that has brought rapes down by teaching “positive masculinity” and self- defence in schools. During the protests in the aftermath of Kathua, a woman held up a placard which read: “Beta padhao, use rakshas banne se bachao (Educate your sons, save them from turning into monsters). Let’s say that again. Goals are of paramount importance in our lives, whether they are financial goals, relationship goals or health goals. Without a goal, an individual is as directionless in life as a stray animal – not knowing where to go, and what to do.
We may not give it much thought but all of us are striving to pursue some or the other goal – in the short term or the long term. While short-term goals may not require much of advance planning and are relatively