Rare Verdict. Common crime.

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crime, death sentence, Flavia Agnes, judgment, juvenile rapist, maximum comments, nirbhaya, rape, Shakti mills, survivor, verdict

Flavia Agnes calls herself a Feminist and Legal scholar.
Flavia Agnes terms the Shakti Mills Death-Verdict as “Too harsh on young boys from impoverished backgrounds.”

1. Too Harsh? : You know what I find harsh? Life for the Justice-Seekers(JS)

If you die, so much the better JS! We can swipe a collective tear, then build a mausoleum in your name, introduce a law in your name. Hell, even allow Mahesh Bhatt to pour it all on celluloid! Posthumous celebrity status for you, JS!
Of course, when it comes to enacting that particular law… We can deal with your obituaries. Just don’t remind us of our unkempt promises.

On the other hand, If you survive…what a blasted headache you are! We now need to take sides, judge, debate, juggle, evaluate. We now have a dual problem on our hands- rehabilitation of you and rehabilitation of the criminals. We are especially interested in the latter.
The JS survived. A Survivor, not a Victim. That , of course means
a] The crime was not heinous enough. I mean, no intestines hanging out, no metallic objects ripping internal organs. Nothing Serious.

Our standards have risen since that December. We need more gore before our blood boils. Ms Agnes, could you enumerate exactly how many gashes, fractures and liters of JS blood quantifies as ‘Heinous-enough’ for you?

b] She survived= She is strong enough. Mentally and physically. She will cope. She publicly declared that she will not allow this incident to rip apart her life. What a relief we don’t have to deal with a whiner!
But what about our bottled empathy? It needs a release and a recipient. Ah, might as well heap it on the ‘poor angel criminals’.

The criminals erred, therefore they are human. By default, they deserve human rights.
The JS has no human rights; because the JS is not human…just a bloody statistic. Such breath-taking clarity of thought!

2. Too young to punish; but not too young to sin: ‘‘Under-age’ as a terminology, a fundamental right, a loophole.

Let us reverse the roles. Underage JS; adult criminal. Does the Law have a special clause for this? Double punishment? Augment the sentence from Life to Death? Ms Agnes, do enlighten us.

3. Poverty trump card: Ms Agnes, Legal expert and Feminist, contributes another loop-hole for the benefit of criminals. Poverty!!!
Stealing out of poverty, begging out of poverty… I can still understand. Raping out of poverty??? I am zapped by the flights of your imagination, Ms Agnes.

The rich have 2 weapons to wriggle out of punishment: Bribery or Intimidation of the JS & family.

The poor now require even lesser efforts to escape harsh punishment. Just flash the poverty card.

NOTE: So, all you middle-class people…Don’t even think of it. You have a fairly decent job, middle-class values and a good upbringing. You don’t have the twin privileges of poverty and illiteracy.
Steer clear of Rape. You are neither rich enough nor poor enough to afford committing rape.

4. Rarest of Rare:
Ms Agnes says ‘The Death sentence will dilute the rarest of rare premise. Even if (Hold your breath!) the accused commit rape more than once, rape cannot be termed as ‘rarest of rare’ . Ah, such pearls of wisdom!

Since I do not claim to have legal expertise, please indulge me, Lady. Select the correct alternative from below:
The ‘rarest of rare’ term is applicable in relation to :
A.Criminal
B.Crime
C. Neither of the above

Ms Agnes would tick on option A; since she thinks ‘only one rape’ is not good enough. Her misguided angels will be demoralized for life if it appears on their resume. An Encore? Now she may consider it. Provided those intestines are hanging out.

What about 1 murder + 1 rape? What about 1 robbery + 1 rape? What sort of permutation and combination is ‘Heinous’ enough for Ms Agnes?

Of course, a crime is not officially an ‘Offense’ until
{i} reported by JS, {ii}registered by police {iii} proven in court. Until all 3 steps are complete, the offense remains off-record. For a ‘repeat offense’, please repeat all the above 3 steps.
Till such time, the criminal is innocent until proved otherwise.

Option B. She emphatically states that ‘Rape is not Murder’. Point appreciated. Sounds good on a Dais. Sounds good on paper. Solid one-liner punch. Yayy for Women-Power!

Only, it means nothing. Empty platitude. Hollow.
Every JS needs closure. She can never achieve it with the vitriolic certainty that her criminals still exist on Earth and that they still breathe. From being jobless miscreants, they have earned a lifetime of ensured food and ensured roof. On tax-payers money. Quite a progressive leap in their life!

If the JS is a working individual, a part of her salary will help maintain their existence. She has to live with that torture. Every single moment of her life. Still not rare and harsh enough, Ms Agnes?

I would opt for option C. I think ‘Rarest of Rare’ should apply to the JS. For a JS, the crime against her is the very ‘rarest of rare’ incident of her Life.
Her Life. How can anyone else decide it is not rare enough or heinous enough for her life?

Rape is not mere male vs female. It is one human being trampling, spitting and defecating on another human being’s right. Still not rare or heinous enough?

5. And lastly, Ms Agnes has empathy for the grieving, bereaved Family…of the Criminals!

I have often wondered how these jobless, good-for-nothing, penniless vagabonds suddenly metamorphose into The-Sole-support-and-Breadwinner of-our-Family?
Enough of misdirected sympathy. Zero tolerance , please, for these tactics.

But take heart, Ms Agnes. The future is bright for your misguided souls. They can keep appealing to the High Court, then Supreme Court, then the President. With every subsequent plea to a higher court, the JS has to again depose, again prove her statement and re-re-re-relive her nightmare. Still not rare enough, Ms Agnes?

If the President allows the file to decay long enough, the Court will automatically convert a Death to a Life sentence. See? There is an entire battalion of allies existing to cuddle and console your misguided angels!

Take heart, have Patience. Your sympathy will bear fruits. Ms Agnes, your misguided angels may still walk free.

P.S: Does every Court have a Bhagwad Gita? Open it once in a while. Chapter 2, Verse 11. “Do not lament for those who do not deserve lamentation.”
Poor, poor Krishna. No wonder Gandhari, holding up her scales, is having the last laugh in her corner.

How does your country deal with Juvenile Delinquents?
Do you believe in Death sentence?
How many are too-many for you?
Will you react only when the criminal and the crime arrives at your doorstep?

Crime won, Nirbhaya lost …Read here for Dec 2015 judgment.