Death Penalty In Rape Cases: Analysis Of Nirbhaya Verdict, 2020

Turala Sivani Yadav, Associate Attorney, Mindcrest

Introduction

A woman is a wonderful and the most beautiful creation of God- a mother, a sister, a wife, a friend, she plays all her roles lovingly and with utmost care and affection. Her status as an individual as well as a group has undergone innumerable upheavals overtime, especially in India. On one hand she has been worshipped as a Goddess and on the other, she has been veiled, confined to the four walls of the house, humiliated, tortured and suppressed.

The Indian society based on patriarchy inflicted strictures on her, reducing her status to a mere plaything or a slave of man’s whims and fancies. She has been suppressed in the name of adjustment. She has been tortured in the names of customs and usages. The patriarchal society tends to show more of nonacceptance towards women rising and demanding equal rights and status. They are slammed by the orthodox sections of the society and are a mere creature who is supposed to just obey! Humiliation, harassment, torture, and exploitation of women are as old as the history of family life and in the present era, there has been an alarming decline in the respect and morality towards women which in result has increased crimes against women in the society. Women have been looked upon with disdainful contempt. Incidents of heinous crimes like rapes, acid attacks, dowry deaths, domestic violence have increased at an alarming rate.