Following are the arguments of the prosecution and the defence on the quantum of sentence in the Dec 16 gang-rape case. The prosecution, arguing for granting the four accused the death sentence, said:<\/p>\n
\u2013The case falls in the \u201crarest of rare\u201d categories, and the accused \u201cdon\u2019t carry any element of sympathy due to age\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2013The act was premeditated, and punishment should be awarded as per the gravity of the offence, and not considering the age of the accused.<\/p>\n
\u2013The convicts should get maximum sentence, and the court should see that they have raped and killed a helpless woman, even as she pleaded for her life.<\/p>\n
\u2013This is the most heinous crime one can commit. The injuries caused to the victim were inhuman and unheard of in a criminal case.<\/p>\n
\u2013Her digestive system was ripped open, as if a fruit.<\/p>\n
\u2013There is fear in society. No woman is safe in the country. The court\u2019s judgment can change that.<\/p>\n
\u2013If the convicts are awarded a lighter punishment, \u201cthe public will lose faith in the judicial system\u201d. \u2013Strong message should be sent to society through this case.<\/p>\n
\u2013The accused don\u2019t stand a chance to be given an opportunity to reform. The defence, pleading mercy for the accused and a chance for reformation, said:<\/p>\n
\u2013Death penalty will not guarantee crime-free society. The accused are all young and can change if given an opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u2013Afzal Guru (convicted in the December 2001 attack on parliament) and Ajmal Kasab (lone Pakistani terrorist who survived and was convicted in the November 2006 attacks in Mumbai) were given death sentence.Does that mean terror attacks have stopped?<\/p>\n
\u2013Beant Singh who assassinated former prime minister Indira Gandhi (in 1984) was given death sentence, but that could not prevent the assassination of her son and also former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.<\/p>\n
\u2013In the Batla House shootout, the convict, Shahzad, accused of killing a police officer, was awarded life imprisonment, not death sentence.<\/p>\n
\u2013The accused in the gang-rape case were not terrorists, but citizens of India.<\/p>\n
\u2013This is not a case that falls under the \u201crarest of the rare\u201d category. There have been similar cases where death penalty was not awarded.<\/p>\n
\u2013Jail is considered as a reform home, and life imprisonment in such a case is a rule, while death penalty is an exception.<\/p>\n
\u2013While determining the sentence, it should be ensured what the role of each person in the crime was. The incident happened on the spur of the moment.<\/p>\n
\u2013This is the land of Mahatma Gandhi who preached non-violence. Death sentence is not only against Gandhi\u2019s teachings but also denies the guilty their right to life.<\/p>\n
\u2013The common plea by the defence was that all the accused had no history of indulging in criminal activities, their families depended on them financially, and the incident took place while they were under the influence of alcohol, affecting their judgment.
\n(Source: IANS)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following are the arguments of the prosecution and the defence on the quantum of sentence in the Dec 16 gang-rape case. The prosecution, arguing for granting the four accused the death sentence, said: \u2013The case falls in the \u201crarest of rare\u201d categories, and the accused \u201cdon\u2019t carry any element of sympathy due to age\u201d. \u2013The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[189,6743,25039,25190,47776,47765,26183,47774,47775,23371],"class_list":["post-30155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-law-news","tag-afzal-guru","tag-ajmal-kasab","tag-dec-16-gang-rape","tag-dec-16-gang-rape-case","tag-national-news","tag-news","tag-rarest-of-rare-categories","tag-todays-news","tag-todays-top-news","tag-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n