Whenever rape cases are reported, social media sites are overloaded with calls for capital punishment for the rapists and the general public quickly join the chorus. Most people to support death penalty for rapists are youths, often driven by emotions and frustrated by the inefficiency of the government authorities to track down and punish the rapists. As the public outrage is high, even members of parliament come to join the fray.
According to the latest Nepal Police data, as many as 2,144 cases of rape were registered in the last fiscal year. Since the beginning of the lockdown, on an average, two girls were raped every day. The Kathmandu Valley and Province 5 recorded the highest number of rape cases during this period.
With such a rise in daily cases and government failing to ensure public safety, it’s obvious that there would be a public outcry for the strict punishment for such heinous crime and the capital punishment would appear like a solution. Article (16) of the Constitution has guaranteed that all citizens have the right to live with dignity and has also prohibited death penalty. Nepali laws do not support capital punishment. But as the public outrage grows, Nepali lawmakers could slowly fall under pressure and stand to support death penalty for rapists.
Will it work?
In their support for capital punishment many seem to have ignored the vital questions: How effective is death penalty to deter rape crimes? Is there any correlation between decrease in heinous crimes and capital punishment?
Death penalty, also known as the capital punishment, is the practice of executing someone by the state as a punishment for specific crime after proper legal proceeding. The logic behind such a sentence is that harsh punishment will deter one from committing such crime and justice will be served.
As per “Columbia Public Law Research Paper (No. 09-206)” by Professor Franklin Zimring, the murder rate of Hong Kong, where capital punishment was abolished in 1993, was compared with Singapore, where capital punishment is still in practice. The findings showed remarkably similar levels and trends of homicide in these two cities over 35 years after 1973. In another paper titled “Uses And Abuses Of Empirical Evidence In The Death Penalty Debate” researchers found that capital punishment has no significant impact on reduction of murder rate. They compared the states with death penalty with states without. The researchers conclude that there is no substantial evidence to confirm that the capital punishment significantly reduces the heinous crime.
Punishment is one of the crucial factors to curb crime. Likelihood of being caught and punished by the authorities is another deterrent. But people rarely talk about these, when they demand death penalty. In fact, research suggests that criminals are mainly concerned about whether they’ll be caught and least about what might happen to them afterwards. Deterrence and the Death Penalty (2012) study report by National Research Council says “Rather than the severity of the ensuing consequences, it’s the certainty of apprehension that’s been demonstrated consistently to be an effective deterrent.”
We need to look into the big picture and address larger issues instead of searching for a quick fix.
In fiscal year 2016-17, there was 64 percent conviction rate for rape and 44 percent for attempted rape by the Supreme Court. Conviction rate was 42 percent for rape and 28 percent for attempted rape by the High Court, according to the report of Office of the Attorney General. With low conviction rate among the registered cases which is lower than actual rape cases as many go unregistered, we need to be more focused on making legal system supportive to victims and ensuring perpetrators get caught.
In most reported cases in Nepal, the perpetrators are relatives, neighbors or other known persons. Even today, a number of rape cases go unreported due to societal and family pressure. Introduction of capital punishment could significantly increase pressure on the rape victims to withdraw cases. More cases could go unreported as the criminals will be known. Death penalty can also make the victims and associates more vulnerable to murder after rape. Every trace of evidence might be destroyed by any means that may include illegal use of state power as we have witnessed in Hathras rape and murder case of India. Security of the victim and their family is another important issue that needs more attention.
Introduction of capital punishment could significantly increase pressure on the rape victims to withdraw cases. More cases could go unreported as the criminals will be known.
With such corrupt state mechanisms in place, we cannot be sure that only the perpetrators will be caught. What if the innocent are caught and they, under severe mental and physical torture, are made to confess a crime they haven’t committed?
Rape cannot be eliminated by capital punishment alone. Patriarchy, exercise of power upon helpless by the powerful, tendency of movies to normalize stalking, lax legal system, unaccountable police authorities, rampant corruption, unwritten social gender roles and many other factors are behind this.
We need to look into the big picture and address larger issues instead of searching for a quick fix.
Arpana KC is a law graduate from Prithvi Narayan Campus, Tribhuvan University.
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