Tackling one problem by creating another
May. 2nd, 2018 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterWhat kind of society is that one which doesn't know how to respond to a serious problem like child rape, and resorts to the only solution it can think of, the death penalty?
India's death penalty for rapists of young girls could push them to kill
With the majority of rapes committed by someone known to the victim, the new law could drive offenders to murder to avoid detection.
Child rape has been a painful subject in India for a long time. The government always responds impulsively to each prominent case, with ad hoc measures that are only meant to calm the passions for a while - until the next case. The general knee-jerk reaction is to further tighten the legislation. Evidently they cannot come up with any other ideas. The rulers in India must believe they could change the so called public climate in the country with restrictive, even cruel measures.
This time is no exception. The same ad hoc approach is being applied here, and it won't achieve anything. The death penalty will not change the culture that has existed in Indian society for so many years. It is quite telling that after the latest child rape case, that of a 8 year old kid (ending with a murder), even members of the ruling party tried to influence the court and block the culprit's conviction.
This is not how normal human beings should treat other human beings. There can be no place for cultural excuses or political compromises about this. Not in India, not in any other place. Unless a government that is meant to be by the people and for the people articulates this as a problem that needs complex solutions instead of just killing people in yet another knee-jerk ad-hoc reaction to the latest horrible case, nothing will be achieved. And the problem will remain there to haunt the presumably largest democracy in the world.
India's death penalty for rapists of young girls could push them to kill
With the majority of rapes committed by someone known to the victim, the new law could drive offenders to murder to avoid detection.
Child rape has been a painful subject in India for a long time. The government always responds impulsively to each prominent case, with ad hoc measures that are only meant to calm the passions for a while - until the next case. The general knee-jerk reaction is to further tighten the legislation. Evidently they cannot come up with any other ideas. The rulers in India must believe they could change the so called public climate in the country with restrictive, even cruel measures.
This time is no exception. The same ad hoc approach is being applied here, and it won't achieve anything. The death penalty will not change the culture that has existed in Indian society for so many years. It is quite telling that after the latest child rape case, that of a 8 year old kid (ending with a murder), even members of the ruling party tried to influence the court and block the culprit's conviction.
This is not how normal human beings should treat other human beings. There can be no place for cultural excuses or political compromises about this. Not in India, not in any other place. Unless a government that is meant to be by the people and for the people articulates this as a problem that needs complex solutions instead of just killing people in yet another knee-jerk ad-hoc reaction to the latest horrible case, nothing will be achieved. And the problem will remain there to haunt the presumably largest democracy in the world.
