Capital Punishment is not Revenge
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| Govindachamy when Kerala High Court confirmed his death sentence |
The Bible suggests that it is better for one man to
die if that death helps others to live better [John
11: 50]. Forgive me for applying that to a criminal today, though Jesus
made that statement in a benign theological context.
A notorious and hardcore criminal has
escaped prison in Kerala. Fourteen years ago he assaulted a young girl who was
travelling all alone in a late evening train, going back home from her
workplace. The girl jumped out of the running train to save herself from this
beast. But he jumped after her and raped her. The postmortem report suggested
that he raped her twice, the second being when she had already fallen
unconscious. And then he killed her hitting her head with a stone.
Do you think that creature is human?
I wrote about this back then: A
Drop of Tear For You, Soumya.
The people of Kerala demanded capital
punishment for this creature, the brute called Govindachamy. He is inhuman. And
he is a threat to civilised society. He is a threat to humanity. If the death
of one creature is better for humanity, why not go ahead with that death?
Kerala’s court of justice ordered
that death. But the Supreme Court commuted that to life sentence. Capital
punishment is uncivilised, the apex court thought. Is it really?
The escape of Govindachamy from
prison proves yet again that some people are irredeemable. Remember also that
this man has only one arm. With that one arm, he committed brutal crimes. Now with
that one hand again, he cut the bars of his prison cell and jumped a wall that
is six metres (20 feet) tall.
It is possible that he got help from
outside. There are more criminals outside our prisons than inside. Some of the
men among the police are no better than the criminals behind the bars they
guard.
It is good to clean up the society
every now and then. It is better for the society that one Govindachamy dies…
… so that ‘normal’ people can live –
with dignity, in peace.
Govindachamys do not merely
break laws; they trample on the social contract that allows civilisation to
function. It is not one Saumya that is killed by this Govindachamy; it is the
very hope of mankind for a better society.
There is also another important
question. Why should the state carry the burden of such a person for decades? This
creature called Govindachamy lived in prison and all his expenditure from food
and clothes to security was funded by the taxpayers.
Another more important question: the surviving
family members of the victims. How do you convince them of justice when the
murderer of their beloved family member is given a chance to escape to freedom
from a prison with steel bars and 6-metre-tall walls?
Keeping some creatures alive is not
compassion; it is cruelty to future victims and an insult to past ones. A
prison escape by Govindachamy is not just a failure of the system; it is a
betrayal of the idea that justice must mean what it promises to be. Capital
punishment is not revenge, as I am told by many preachers. Capital punishment
is about protecting the living and honouring the dead.
Hari Om
ReplyDeleteOn this we must disagree... the bible verse pertains to sacrifice and not punishment. Another bible quote would advise that the lost sheep is the one requiring most care from the shepherd. If one's trust is in the teachings of Jesus then correction and forgiveness, the guidance to repentence is the apt response. If revenge is sought, look to the old books of Exodus, Leviticus...
Undoubtedly the crime was heinous. Think on all the rapes that have - and continue to be - enacted. Murders too. Most go undetected, never mind unpunished. As dreadful as this fellow may be, why should he carry the force of hatred poured out from pained souls who will not be healed by his death. Grief has no salve - least of all by becoming the takers of life ourselves.
The escape as you describe it (and his incapacity) must surely have been 'arranged' and this must be investigated. The very description means he will be easily spotted, unless, again, he is aided. Let all effort be in retrieving the criminal and placing him once again under the 'shepherds care'. Let him endure the restriction and rigors of incarceration until his natural death, just as those upon whom he wrought grief must carry that to their graves... YAM xx
I can only say that my insincts revolt against this kind of creatures. Call me what you will. I will defend death sentence to certain creatures.
DeleteThe god of the Bible is a lot more brutal. Sadist.
There would be people among the jail top brass abetting him. Otherwise, how would he escape? He seems another Charles Shobraj, of yesteryears. From. Which jail did he escape? As much as you would like him hanged, law has his leniencies and loopholes.. And higher judiciary is no great mood for capital punishment! And I checked the BNS to see whether Govindachami stands for any compounded punishment. Just another thee years more, perhaps after he is caught.
ReplyDeleteSince he's got back, I don't know what to say about the complicity of the police. Could the whole thing be a drama created by certain powerful vested interests?
DeleteI presume even the rape and killing of Soumya, years back is part of a wider conspiracy and Govindachamy, just a facade and pawn and a cover-up. She would have spurned the overtures of some bigwig or his son, probably.
DeleteThis is highly possible. And that bigwig may be behind this escape, though a failed attempt now.
DeleteWhat about the people who have climbed up the political ladder built with corpses!
ReplyDeleteThat's a mystical question, almost. Give me power and I will clean up the entire Augean stables.
DeleteI've always had a problem with capital punishment. You can't take it back if there was a miscarriage of justice. And at least where I live, there are so many people slated to die who were actually innocent of the crimes they were convicted of. Death is a kind of release. If you want someone punished, better to keep them alive to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe man in this post has been caught again. 14 years in prison didn't teach him anything. Another 14 won't either.
DeleteI have issue with capital punishment.
ReplyDeleteI don't when we know a criminal well enough.
Delete