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The Nirbhaya gangrape convicts are scheduled to hang on 1 February. While many call it the best justice that could be served to Nirbhaya and her family, several senior lawyers and activists fear that death penalty hardly tackles the problem of rape in India.
At the Press Club in New Delhi today, senior activists like Kamla Bhasin, Kavita Krishnan, Vani Subramanian, Enakshi Ganguly and lawyers Tara Narula and Neetika Vishwananthan held a press conference to express their discomfort about the existence of the death penalty in the criminal justice system.
The lawyers and activists emphasised on the fact that death penalty was being used to distract and dissuade the public from holding the State accountable for its failure to prevent crimes against women. They also believed that death penalty was “being used as a distraction” for its failure to ensure access to justice for victims of sexual violence.
The coalition of activists and lawyers also believe that the State, despite having identified actual systemic and institutional barriers to justice in cases of sexual violence, does very little to remedy the same.
The activists further added that the problems within the criminal justice system need to be fixed right from the stages of reporting, investigation and forensic examination as well as in relation to the victim support mechanisms which are presently unavailable.
Numerous studies by women’s rights groups show that the biggest gaps for the victims within the criminal justice system are related to reporting a complaint at the police station, and lack of support and guidance to the victim to help navigate the pre-trial through trial stages. These studies also find inconsistent compliance by courts with the victim support procedures that are mandatory in rape trials.
Sudeeti from Pinjra Tod further added that rape is not an external problem, it is a problem which is very much a part of the society.
The coalition unequivocally condemned death penalty and stated that execution is not the solution to the problem of sexual crimes.
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