Thursday, September 11, 2008

Indian courts advocate zero-tolerance towards sex crimes

  • “Once a person is convicted for an offence of rape he should be treated with a heavy hand. Any undeserved indulgence or liberal attitude in not awarding adequate sentence in such cases would amount to allowing or even encouraging potential criminals,” the judges said.
  • In 2001, a Pune sessions court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment for his crime. However, the high court felt compelled to increase the punishment as the victim's autopsy revealed eight serious injuries to her genitals, an indication of the “extreme brutality and depravity” of the crime
  • Turning down the defence's plea for mercy on grounds that Rajput had a young son and an elderly mother who were dependent on him, the judges noted that he was an alcoholic and hence was “likely to commit similar crimes against other small girls” and would be a “serious threat and menace to society if allowed to live”.
  • The high court asserted that courts could not ignore the impact that incidents of sexual violence have on individuals as well as society. “The social impact of crime, particularly where it relates to offences against women, cannot be lost sight of and per se requires exemplary treatment,” the judges said. “Any undeserved indulgence or liberal attitude in not awarding adequate sentence would amount to allowing or even encouraging potential criminals.” 
  • The judges equated the heinousness of rape with murder, which, under the law, is the most serious of all crimes. “Whereas a murderer destroys the physical frame of a victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female,” the judges said. “Sexual violence, apart from being a dehumanising act, is also an unlawful intrusion of the right to privacy and sanctity of a female,” the judgment said.
  • Meanwhile, in an another instance of the higher courts' growing concern over leniency shown to rapists, the Supreme Court upheld the compulsory retirement of a judge in Uttar Pradesh for granting parole to a person convicted of assaulting a minor.
  • Additional sessions judge Raj Kumar, who otherwise has a good track record, released the convict under the Probation of Offenders Act after finding that he had already served a sentence of over 15 months.

    The judge had either overlooked or been ignorant of the fact that, under the law, the crime of assaulting a minor carries a minimum sentence of 10 years' rigorous imprisonment that could be extended to a life term in addition to the imposition of a fine. 

    Kumar challenged the judgment in the Supreme Court and, on January 11, he lost

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