Revenge may not bring back a dead person, but the concept of ‘an eye for an eye’ cannot be questioned on moral and ethical grounds, especially by those who have simply witnessed a crime. Over the years, every country writes down a set of laws by which everyone is expected to operate, but somewhere along the line, maybe they should incorporate sections for ‘revenge’ and ‘avenge’. Agreed, the dead will remain dead, and none the happier for the guilty going down the same road. But sometimes, for their loved ones who still remain alive, much like the murderers, that chapter can be closed only with revenge, and can show the next murderer that he most likely won’t get away with it.
The group of men who raped the girl in a bus in Delhi two years ago, their actions was inhumanely cruel, and inhumanely undeserving of the verdict blessed upon them. One of them got away with being ‘juvenile’, while the court has stayed the death sentence of two other men. Sending them to the gallows won’t bring the girl back, or assuage the pain she went through. But should they really just get off with a slap on the wrist? That’s exactly the ingredient the next rapist needs his daily dose of encouragement from. And what about her family, her loved ones – should they have to live the rest of their lives knowing they are living and breathing the same air as does the killers who snuffed out their child’s life just for their personal pleasure?
Taking a human life – not to mention, with insane brutality – should just be enough to put an end to the killer’s life as well. Just sentencing them to prison, and having endless trials cannot be the only punishment they deserve. Sure, things have gotten a lot better since the Delhi rape case: there have been stricter laws to protect women, even the court laws have been re-evaluated for stricter punishment and verdict towards the guilty, but that is not enough. It is one thing to learn from a mistake, and quite another to make an example. Execution is probably the kindest ways of repaying the killers – if it were up to anyone but the government and the courts, they would probably be begging for death by hanging.
But they haven’t even been executed. It would have at least made the next killer think twice about his actions. A prison sentence works in no favor for anybody – the killer just rots in there till he gets out, basically the same killer instincts intact, the victim’s family having gotten no closure, and not much discouragement for future murderers. Sometimes we need to put aside the law for vigilance. But that’s only because the laws aren’t strong enough. Indeed, the laws are strong enough only to protect the guilty.
In fact, it is more than just revenge. It is avenging. She may still be dead, but if she were alive, she would have wanted justice for those men. All the laws, courtrooms, justice – all seem so very insignificant in the face of a heinous crime.
And if the law is so weak – let them loose in the public arena. If they can’t live by the rules of morality, neither can the public!
