Guilty yes, but why Bray for Blood!

Guilty said the court, and in my opinion rightly so! Personally, I feel the crimes these rapists committed last year in December, deserve them the death penalty. The Nirbhaya case, as it is called, is heading to its conclusive end.

Yet, when I listen to the TV channels clamouring for death, it disappoints me to hear the baying for blood! It is only after courts pronounced them guilty, could we confidently and freely attribute the crime to them. In similar line, whether these criminals get sentenced to death or another penalty, is again a decision for those who understand such matters. I do not find it wholesome to hear phrases like, “the country awaits for Friday to see if justice is truly served”, “the youth wants to know if the courts will give justice”, etc. These are poor insinuations and calls that go against our judiciary.

Are these media channels saying that justice in the hands of our judges would not be properly served if the death penalty is not deemed appropriate? Are they suggesting that they or the public at large, knows better than those trained in evaluating and passing judgement? Or are they actually just saying, as I do, that I think these rapists deserve to hang!

There is a difference between expressing one’s view and leaving the decision to those who know to assess best. My own opinion and strong agreement is that the perpetrators of this heinous crime should pay with their life... this is coloured with my personal understanding, my whims and passions. Which is why I also realise the limitations of my own judgement call, and wait to see what the professionals decide – and prepare to accept their final decision. If that decision matches my expectations, I would feel gratified and even vindicated.

But say, the decision of the judges, on their sentence, goes against my personal call… surely I would feel dissatisfied - but more than that, I would wish to reevaluate my own thought process, its vagaries and the doubts. I may still end up not agreeing with a decision that counters my own thinking, and I may feel denied, but I surely cannot call it a failure of our justice system! I am free to disagree with the judges' call, but I as a citizen, cannot and must not prepare to label or libel it as failed justice. I would freely disagree but not presume to pronounce as I am an unqualified adjudicator.

To pre-emptively claim that less than a death sentence would be a failure of the justice system, even before that final call is taken, is gross misappropriation. Instead, such talk by tv-channels, is a failure of the media, in my opinion. By asserting that only death would serve true justice, is clearly them over reaching their platform.

I only wish our TV anchors learn to use phrases like, “our opinion is” or “we hope for” or “the mood on the street is” and end with the caveat that the judiciary would know what to do best – that would be the better tack, for our nascent media to take. Instead of pretending to be the fourth pillar, they should be so!

A civilised society must never behave like a lynch mob and justice does not mean "decision by democracy". 

The law is by the people & of the people; thereafter, making judgements basis that law, is best left as the specialised domain of professional judges. Everyone, the mob or the media, cannot be arbiters, that role is solely that of a qualified ombudsman.

"Death to all rapists", I say, but let that final decision be taken by those who know the law; and then seek to strive to live a better & more equitable life oneself! This latter can include voting to change the law, but it most definitely includes living by the law!

BTW, I am confident that the guilty in this case will pay with their lives!
What is you opinion?