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Death penalty debate: Media should promote reformatory justice over retributive justice

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Madhuri Danthala
Madhuri DanthalaJul 24, 2017 | 12:33

Death penalty debate: Media should promote reformatory justice over retributive justice

Being a quintessential Telugu girl, I have since childhood been an ardent fan of megastar Chiranjeevi, whose films have not only entertained but have also been instrumental in shaping my worldview.

One of my favourite films is Abhilasha, where he plays a struggling lawyer who aspires to abolish the death penalty, as his father is wrongly convicted for a rape and murder he hadn’t committed and awarded the death sentence.

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The debate over whether capital punishment actually deters crime is a divisive one and can seldom be deliberated upon dispassionately. As India aspires to be a modern progressive nation, it is imperative that the media promote such debates so that people can form informed opinions.

Sadly, in the heat of the vice-presidential elections, the UPA candidate, Gopalakrishna Gandhi, was almost vilified by some sections of the media for being an advocate of abolishing the death penalty. Rather than taking a pragmatic view of issues, the media not only misleads but is also culpable in whipping up emotions that are detrimental to the progress of our society.

Much like the fate of Chiranjeevi’s father in the film, where he is executed as he is too poor to have access to quality legal aid, there are many from the vulnerable sections in India who are languishing in jails awaiting their fate.

A comprehensive study by researchers of the National Law University revealed that three-quarters of death row prisoners are from vulnerable socio-economic sections of society. This phenomenon is not restricted to India and various studies report similar results in other countries. 

History is replete with examples of poor people who have been falsely convicted and executed, only to be posthumously pardoned decades later. For instance, in 2015, an Irish man named Harry Gleeson was acquitted of murder charges, 74 years after he was sent to the gallows!

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Nevertheless, many argue that a few “mistakes” notwithstanding, the death penalty is essential to ensure that criminals are deterred. However, empirical research has consistently revealed that the death penalty hasn’t been able to deter crime.

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Gopalakrishna Gandhi, UPA's vice-president candidate. Photo: Reuters

It is no coincidence that the Scandinavian countries, which have very low crime rate, have also abolished capital punishment. As of today, over a 100 countries have abolished the death penalty. Further, studies have shown that in the countries which have not abolished it, not only have crimes not come down, but also the number of executions has increased, implying that there is no discernible correlation between capital punishment and deterrence.

Often in the emotionally charged atmosphere after a heinous crime has been committed, people make impassioned pitches for sending alleged perpetrators to the gallows. Worse, those active on social media will notice that many seem to think that capital punishment is the panacea to all evils in society.

Such knee-jerk reactions are uncalled for as that doesn’t solve the problem of rising crime in a society where the judicial infrastructure is in shambles. For the financial year 2017-2018, the allocation was a paltry Rs 1744.13 crore for the administration of justice, whereas the judiciary is burdened with a backlog of a whopping three crore cases. What we need is more budgetary allocation for the judiciary if we want the law to be implemented justly.

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Concomitantly, we also need to revamp our education system as numerous studies have revealed (and common sense dictates) that the more a society is educated, the less crime it has to deal with.

This can be witnessed in Scandinavian countries like Sweden where quality education is accessible to all. Our education system harps on competition and seldom, if ever, acquaints children with the virtues of cooperation or emotional health.

And in a society that is focussed on materialism, where success is defined by the salaries we make, impressionable minds, egged on by a media driven by sensationalism, fall prey to devious means to attain goals set by peers. It’s time we debate this as a society and not be carried away by the popular media, which has lost its moral compass.

The hallmark of a progressive nation is one that delivers reformatory justice and not retributive justice. 

Last updated: July 24, 2017 | 12:33
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