Bhopal: Members of Child Rights Alliance (CRA), Bhopal submitted a memorandum to Governor Anandiben Patel demanding repealing of the Bill provisioning capital punishment to the accused in case of rape of girls aged 12 years and below in the state of Madhya Pradesh. A copy of the memo will also be sent to the President of India for his consideration.
In the memorandum, they requested the Governor to reevaluate the government’s stand on death penalty and also, urged the state government to take proactive and strict measures towards building a safer state for children.
Briefing mediapersons about the move at Apsara Restaurant here on Friday, CRA member Satyam said “We conveyed our objections to the Bill awarding capital punishment to the convicts in cases of rape of girls aged 12 years and below, in the state. We believe that death penalty is not a permanent solution. We have submitted a memorandum to the Governor and requested her to intervene in the matter to bring logical end to the matter. A copy of the memorandum will also be sent to the President of India.”
Explaining the philosophy of capital punishment, he said “Death penalty is a barbaric form of punishment already abolished in over 100 progressive nations of the world, and now, India needs to move forward in inculcating such values rather than moving backward. Research has shown that deterrence theory does not work in this case. And evidently, even after announcement of this Bill in MP, incidents of child sexual abuse continue to be reported on an appalling rate.”
“POCSO 2012 already provides provisions for more severe punishments. In cases of ‘aggravated’ sexual assault of children; ‘aggravated’ has been determined by the occurrence of various circumstances, including the age of the victim being below 12 years. Thus, there is no need for an additional law on the same,” said social activist and member of the organisation, Archna Sahay.
Another member of CRA, Shivani argued “Over 90 per cent of the perpetrators are people known to the child and these are the cases that are not reported. The possibility of a victim of sexual abuse being killed would be higher when the punishment for murder and sexual abuse is the same.”
“I think government should mobilise its investigative agencies more effectively as the investigation process need to be more professional and scientific. Also, capacity of investigative agencies should also be increased,” said another CRA member Asha Pathak.
