Full-Stop To Toothless Death Penalty?

The one question that troubles law-makers and law-enforcers alike is: death or life imprisonment. While law-makers often hesitate and ponder before passing the final sentence, human rights activists and pacifists simply say no to the death sentence. Shweta Menon presents the views of the two sides and wants you to take a stand.

371 death sentences and four well-publicised executions so far, India is among those handful of infamous countries that still practice death penalty. But for India, the matter remains especially debatable since the very idea of the creation of this nation was by a man who was an ardent follower of non-violence. The question is simple: Should the country based on Gandhian ideology believe in the principle of ‘an eye for an eye’? While there have been numerous heated debates, there hasn’t been much progress on settling the issue.

In the midst of this debate comes an exceptional book ‘Demons and Demigods’ written by Advocate Aparna Jha, a lawyer practicing in the Supreme Court. An staunch supporter of the abolishment of death penalty, the book is about her experience in preventing her clients (four people were accused of being serial killers who killed 10 people and were given death sentence in 2011) from the gallows of a death sentence. The book, though, talks about the details of her case, does not fail to address the larger issue of death penalty. Explaining fundamental procedures involved in the sentencing to presenting views and counter views on the issue, the book, in a nutshell, leaves its reader with a boast-worthy knowledge of the history of death penalty in India.