Videos – P39A Criminal Law Blog

Why 2022 was Significant for Capital Punishment in India

Editor — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 11:25:48 +0000

Gale Andrew

Lakshmi Menon

This interview was first published in Article 14 and can be accessed here.

2022 was an important year in the death penalty for India. As per Project 39A’s Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2022, the Supreme Court made significant developments to capital sentencing law even as trial courts imposed the highest number of death sentences in India since 2000. Gale and Lakshmi discuss the report’s findings with Kaavya Edwards from Article 14.

Gale Andrew (Senior Associate) and Lakshmi Menon (Associate) are with Project 39A, National Law University Delhi.

Sexual Violence and the Death Penalty: A Discussion Focused on Needs of Survivors

Baljeet Kaur — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:11:17 +0000

Our Executive Director Professor Anup Surendranath in conversation with Kushi Kushalappa (Child Rights Activist), Corrine Kumar (Women’s Rights Activist), and R Srikumar (Former Director General of Police, Karnataka).

India has seen a consistent legislative expansion of the death penalty for sexual offences beginning with the amendments in 2013. In the aftermath of the Delhi gang rape case, a three-member committee under the chairmanship of Retired Justice Verma was constituted to suggest amendments to the rape law. While the Verma Committee took a clear stand against the death penalty, the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013 introduced the death penalty as a possible punishment for repeat sexual offenders and for rape resulting in death or vegetative condition of the victim. More recently, in 2018, incidents of violent child rape and murder in Kathua and Unnao led to the inclusion of the death sentence for the first time for rape (without murder) of girls below the age of 12 years. This was followed by the amendment in the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act, in 2019 where the death penalty was introduced for penetrative sexual assault of children below the age of 18 years.

Against this backdrop, in collaboration with the Bangalore International Centre, we organised a panel discussion on sexual violence and the death penalty on World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October 2022. The focus of the discussion was the effectiveness of the death penalty as a response to sexual violence while locating it within the needs of the survivors. The discussion also explored conceptions of justice for the survivors and the place of punitive justice within that framework.

CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: EXPERIENCING (IN)JUSTICE IN INDIA

Baljeet Kaur — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 09:10:00 +0000

In 2018, India saw the issue of sexual violence against young children come into the limelight after a series of cases were highlighted by the media. In response, the Government amended existing laws to introduce harsher punishments, including the death penalty for rape of a girl child of 12 and below. While the move appears to have populist appeal, it is imperative we look at the realities of Child Sexual Violence in India and respond accordingly. This video brings forth the realities of child victims while interacting with the criminal justice system in the pursuit of “justice”.