New Delhi: Expressing concern over the
spurt in rape and sexual abuse cases in Delhi, a local court
on Saturday said that lawmakers should explore possibility of
permitting imposition of alternative sentences like surgical
or chemical castration in such cases.
Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau, while sentencing
a youth to ten years jail for raping her minor stepdaughter,
said that alternative punishment for offence of rape should be
there as it is the "crying need of the hour."
"This is a crime which requires to be addressed
differently and a full public debate, with regard to
imposition of castration (both surgical and chemical) as an
alternative punishment for the offence of rape and
molestation, is the crying need of the hour," the court said.
The court said that the Indian lawmakers should take this
issue seriously as such a law is existing in many developed
countries like USA, UK, Germany and others.
"Ironically, the Indian legislatures are yet to take
notice of this alarming situation and address the issue with
all seriousness by exploring the possibility of permitting the
imposition of alternative sentences of surgical castration or
chemical castration in cases involving rape of minors, serial
offenders ...or as a condition for probation, or as an
alternative sentence in case of Plea Bargaining," it said.
"In my view it is time that we as a Civil Society stand up
and also think of a law similar to the one existing in many
developed countries providing for surgical and chemical
castrations," it added.
Chemical castration is administration of medication
designed to reduce libido and sexual activity, usually in the
hope of preventing rapists, child molesters and other sex
offenders from repeating their crimes.
In surgical castration, the testes or ovaries are
removed through an incision in the body.
The ASJ said, "although chemical castration is not the
perfect solution to inhibit child molestation, it certainly
discourages sexual assault better than incarceration."
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on convict
Dinesh Yadav, 35, a labourer by profession, who raped her
15-year old step-daughter.
The victim`s mother had remarried as her first
husband died. The victim was residing with her maternal
grandmother but later started residing with her mother and
Dinesh.
The court noted that the convict had been raping her
step-daughter for over four years.
The victim complained to her mother about it but as
her mother protested, Dinesh assaulted her. Out of frustration
and being fed-up, victim`s mother left the house.
Dinesh also went away leaving his five children and
her step-daughter alone.
The prosecution said that on the intervening night of
June 12/13, 2009, Dinesh suddenly returned home and while the
victim was going back to sleep, he tried to assault her, on
which she raised alarm and the neighbours came there. Dinesh
ran away from the spot.
The victim reported the matter to the police and
specifically said that her stepfather had committed rape upon
her three-four times.
The victim`s mother was also made an accused in the
case but the girl had stated before the court that whenever
her mother used to protest, she was beaten up and physically
abused.
"Rape is a growing menace which the administration is
finding hard to tackle. Even stringent punishments so
prescribed under the law do not appear to be having any
deterrence," the court said.
It added that in many developed countries, death
penalty applies in cases of aggravated rape indicating the
severity with which this crime has been viewed worldwide.
"The convict in the present case represents the
depravity and abysmal depth to which a man can go. For here is
a case where the convict does not spare his own daughter and
beats and batters his wife when she wants to come to her
rescue. If this is not the case for which the highest
punishment is called for then there can be no other case worse
than this," the ASJ said.
The court directed that the copy of the order be sent
to the Secretary of Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of
India for information purposes.
It said that the right activists may raise arguments
on this order.
"I am not oblivious of the fact that arguments are
bound to be raised against the above by some Right activists
but that in my view would be sheer hypocrisy given the damage
the rapist and sexual predators do to their victims," the
court said.
PTI
