2008 Mumbai Attacks Conviction And Capital Punishment

[mcgillianaire]

The alleged sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks has been convicted for murder and waging war with India. The Pakistani national is likely to be sentenced to death. Although executions are legal in India, they are rarely used. In 1983, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the death penalty should be imposed only in "the rarest of rare cases". The last execution was in 2004 when a security guard was hanged in Kolkata for the rape and murder of a schoolgirl fourteen years earlier. However, it appears the last trained hangman in India has retired, leaving the country with no executioners! And even if Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab is sentenced to death, it will merely result in "a lengthy series of appeals and an indeterminate wait on death row". Ninety-five countries have abolished capital punishment. But what do you think? Are there exceptional crimes that deserve punishment beyond a lifetime of incarceration? Share your thoughts!

[Poll #1559687]

Comments

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

I think there are exceptional crimes for which the death penalty is the best form of punishment, but I don't know the best way to execute it. People who are convicted of mass murder do not deserve to live on hard-earned taxpayers money for the rest of their lives. However, if the death penalty is imposed then I think the decision should always be sent to a higher court for authorisation (eg, in England and Wales it should either gain approval from the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court).