Castration violates rights of rapists: Bihar Human Rights Commission member

PATNA: The plea of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, among others, for chemical castration of rape convicts might have pleased many women, but rights authorities and activists of Bihar feel such a punishment is as "barbaric" as the rape itself.

"Such a response is the result of emotional outburst. The primary purpose behind the outcry is safety of women, and there are ways other than chemical castration of rape convicts to ensure this," Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) chairperson Justice (retd) S N Jha told TOI.

Justice Jha underlined the need for change of mindset. "Many agencies are involved in the process to prosecute a criminal, and police are only one of those agencies. What we need is proper functioning of all the involved agencies at all the levels," he said and favoured speedy trial of not only rape cases but other criminal cases as well.

Former state DGP and BHRC member Neelmani would like the fear of law to be instilled into people, but lawfully. "Though there is an urgent need for harsher treatment for rapists, I am against the barbaric act of chemical castration. However, rapists deserve capital punishment, especially those involved in gang rapes," he said and added he too favoured speedy trials for the simple reason that justice delayed is justice denied.

Justice (retd) Rajendra Prasad, another member of BHRC, was of the view punishments like chemical castration violated human rights of such criminals though they might cause a deterrent effect. "Even prisoners and criminals have human rights," he said and felt the need for change in the mindset of the people.

He pointed out there were laws against rape, yet the incidents of rape were on the rise. "The sorry state betrays the degradation of our moral values and only character building can curb this menace," he said.

Besides teaching of moral science in academic institutions, Justice Prasad is also for special training to bureaucrats and police. "If they are honest, fair and strictly no-nonsense, the bad elements will lie low and the good elements of the society will not feel reluctant to approach them in hours of need," he said.

Chanakya National Law University's faculty member and social activist Ajay Kumar is also against the idea of chemical castration although he favours death penalty for rapists in rarest of rare cases. According to Kumar, it is medically proven that chemical castration may harm the person's other organs as well.

While pleading for gender sensitization at all levels of governance, Kumar also said juvenile laws needed to be amended so as to rein in the rapists and criminals "who get away with such heinous acts just because they have not attained the age of 18 years".

(2013-01-06/timesofindia)