Legal experts declared themselves divided over the...

Legal experts declared themselves divided over the announcement made by deputy prime minister L K Advani that rapists should be awarded capital punishment. Speaking with TNN, criminal lawyer Suresh-chandra Bhosale said this kind of amendment to the law was totally uncalled for and the present punishment was enough. "What is needed is a time-bound disposal of rape/molestation cases, besides making the law enforcement agency more efficient," he said. District government pleader D D Shinde said capital punishment for rape should be awarded only if the victim is not in a position to fight back and defend herself. He said such victims include those who are mentally or physically handicapped, gang rape victims, daughters when raped by their own father and minor girls. Only in such cases, the rapist should be sentenced to death, he added. Criminal lawyer, S K Jain, supported the views of Shinde and expressed the fear that the principle laid down by the Supreme Court for punishment of hanging till death should be for the rarest of rare crime and the same principle should be followed in rape cases. Criminal lawyer Pratap Pardeshi said in many rape cases, cousins, uncles or neighbours are involved. Hence, if death penalty for rape became a law, there would be a tremendous pressure on the victim and her family not to lodge a complaint, which would help rapist to roam freely without any deterrent, he added. Additional public prosecutor Neelima Vertak said that according to the Supreme Court guidelines, death penalty is given in the rarest of rare crimes and if you see the all-India statistics, the number of cases in which death penalty is given does not cross a double digits. Thus, she said, making it capital punishment was not the only solution. "What needed is time-bound investigations and early disposal cases. This will prove to be deterrent," she noted.