NEW DELHI: A criminal found guilty of sexual violence is more likely to hang now than four years earlier as trial courts in some states have an increasing propensity to award death for such crimes, suggests a new report.
In 2016, Madhya Pradesh gave death penalty in 33.3% of such cases; this rose to 81.8% in 2019.
Similarly, in Maharashtra, 45.5% of cases involving sexual violence were awarded capital punishment four years ago which increased to 71.4% in 2019.
The data on the two states was collated by the National Law University, Delhi’s Project 39A, that studies death penalty cases in India.
Executive director Project 39A and NLU assistant professor Anup Surendranath said, “In the post-Nirbhaya context, social and political conversations have been inclined towards harsher punishment as a means to address the growing concern over such cases.”
Madhya Pradesh
2016
Total death sentence cases: 6
Of these, cases involving sexual violence: 2
2019
Total death sentence cases: 11
Cases involving sexual violence: 9
Maharashtra
2016
Total death sentence cases: 11
Cases involving sexual violence: 5
2019
Total death sentence cases: 7
Cases involving sexual violence: 5
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Himanshi Dhawan, May 13, 2020
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
