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“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life”
Is it ever justifiable to execute criminals?
Is Capital punishment the penalty (sentence of death) for committing a crime or is execution in the simplest of terms a state-sanctioned killing?
The principle of capital punishment is that certain murderers deserve nothing less than death as a just, proportionate and effective punishment. On the other hand, it devalues the respect we place on human life; a vilification of human rights - saying that killing is wrong when we sanction killing criminals?
The Nithari killings of Noida are still afresh in the minds of every Indian. In an incident like the Nithari case, any punishment seems too little compared to the barbaric inhuman crime committed on innocent children and women. It only seems justified that the guilty should be given rigorous punishment which will be a lesson for future; a lesson such that nobody ever dare commit such heinous crimes - ever. Protestors of the crime demanded capital punishment for Moninder and Surender- the two prime accused.
Is capital punishment justified in this case?
If someone doesn’t respect another person’s right to live, it means that he has just lost his right to live.
The argument seems fairly just till the issue of human judgement rears its ugly head.
The Supreme Court of India states that the death penalty is to be awarded only in the rarest case of exceptional depravity and brutality. But is human judgment, as several recent court cases have revealed, totally subjective?
-Recently, the Delhi High Court pronounced the death penalty on Santosh Kumar Singh for the murder of Priyadarshini Mattoo. The trial court had acquitted Singh.
-In the Parliament attack case, along with Mohammad Afzal, S A R Geelani was sentenced to death by the trial court. The Delhi High Court acquitted Geelani, as