A fine deterrence

Gruesome and grisly crimes deserve stringent punishment. The penalty must be severe enough to serve the twin purpose of acting as a deterrent as also giving the victim a sense of compensation. Towards this end, while pronouncing the ruling in a case of heinous crime, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has said death sentence alone is inadequate; properties of the convicts should also be sold to recover the fine imposed on them. The court slapped a fine of Rs 50 lakh even as it upheld the death sentence awarded to the seven convicted of gangraping and killing a 27-year-old mentally challenged woman in Rohtak in 2015. Since the culprits together committed the ghastly act, they were jointly liable to pay the fine. The state and the victim’s sister, with whom she was living at the time, would get 50 per cent each of the amount recovered by selling their properties. Given the shocking injuries inflicted on the woman by the perpetrators through brutal and predatory acts, the order serves justice to her and some balm to the sister’s suffering. 

This is the second time in six months that the High Court has passed a strong judgment with financial implications against barbaric criminals. In September last year, it awarded Rs 90 lakh compensation to a 15-year-old rape victim of Faridkot and her parents. The Deputy Commissioner was directed to sell the properties of the convict and his mother for their rowdy and cruel conduct. The relief came to the family six years after their life was turned into a nightmare by their landlord and his accomplices. The minor girl was forcibly taken away and ravaged after her father, mother and sister were assaulted with rods by the armed culprits.

With beastly sexual crimes against women continuing unabated in our society, more such verdicts would instill a fear of the stern penal provisions and curb criminal tendencies. No girl should have to suffer such torture, trauma and social stigma that adversely impacts her personality irreversibly. They have a right to a safe environment.