Death penalty won’t stop perpetrators

The anti-rape bill piloted by the West Bengal government and passed by the state legislature on Tuesday does not add anything to the existing laws on rape and sexual crimes against women.

The bill prescribes life sentence without parole for those convicted of rape, and the death penalty for anyone convicted of rape or gangrape if the victim dies or is left in a vegetative state.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) also prescribes the death penalty in rape cases. The IPC, which it replaced, had also provided for the death sentence in certain kinds of rape cases. But the stipulation of the ultimate punishment has not acted as a deterrent against crime.

The death penalty is not an effective deterrent against any crime, including sexual offences. The basic axiom of criminal jurisprudence is that it is the certainty of punishment, not its severity, that acts as a deterrent against crimes.  

Crimes against women happen not because laws against the crimes are weak but because of other factors, including their poor implementation. The West Bengal law provides for quick investigation and prosecution of cases.

These provisions exist even now but are not implemented well. In the horrific Nirbhaya case, the conviction and the sentencing were confirmed after seven years.

The conviction rate in rape cases is as low 27-28 per cent, which means most rapists go scot-free. Rape cases have increased in the country, despite the existence of laws that prescribe stringent punishment. Many offences are not reported because the offenders are relatives or known persons or the victims fear repercussions or humiliation.

Sexual violence can be countered more by changing the patriarchal culture, which devalues and objectifies women, and the conditions in which such violence takes place, than by changing the law on paper.

Many attitudes and modes of behaviour that define gender relations need to change, and workplaces and public spaces should be made safer and more congenial for women. There are enough laws, and more of them will not make any difference. 

The West Bengal law is a political response to the nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of a junior doctor in a Kolkata hospital last month and the criticism over the handling of it by the state authorities.

Mamata Banerjee’s government has been known for its women-friendly policies and positions, and it may have wanted to reinforce its credentials with the new law.

It may give it a political stance and talking point in the battle of perceptions in the state, but it will not amount to much more. The bill will need presidential assent because it varies from the central law on the subject. That may not be given, and that may lead to more political posturing and confrontation.