West Bengal’s new law imposing the death penalty on rapist-killers follows similar such knee-jerk reactions from other states. A stringent law will not address the root cause of the crime. Societal attitudes towards rape victims need to change, with a focus on providing timely justice
I am proud to call myself a feminist. As a feminist, I am dismayed by the West Bengal govt reacting to the rape at RG Kar Hospital by enacting a law imposing the death penalty on rapist-killers. This is a pathetic attempt by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to assuage public rage by resorting to legislation that she knows will be struck down by the Supreme Court.
The same thing happened in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in response to public outrage over rapes there. They, too, enacted legislation mandating death for rapists. But the SC says the death penalty must be limited to the rarest of rare cases. Alas, rape is not rare. India had 32,000 reported cases in 2022, almost 80 per day. Reported cases are perhaps only a tenth of the reality. Rape is the commonest of common crimes, not rarest of rare.
This article was originally published by The Times of India on September 7 2024.
