This refers to ET reports (Jun 11) on Katwa verdict. It is common knowledge that one of the objectives of sentencing a person guilty of a crime under law is to ensure that the punishment is sufficient to deter the guilty person and others from committing the same crime. Punishments imposed on individual offenders are meant not only for preventing that particular offender from committing further crimes but also for giving a clear and strong message to others that certain offences will be punished. This deterrent effect of court sentences is expected to reduce the probability and / or level of offending in society.
Thus the punishment has two different applications - the certainty of punishment and the severity of punishment. The public knowledge that a particular crime will certainly be punished and as to how severe the punishment is for a particular crime may influence the behaviour of the society. Punishments are designed to change behaviour in the future rather than simply provide retribution or punishment for current or past behaviour.
The above are more or less universally accepted principles. However, some of the recent court verdicts, including the one on Katwa incident involving the barbaric abduction and murder of an eight year old girl child, leave an apprehension whether the punishment is severe enough to have the expected deterrent impact on the society. It is a fact that the crime rate of any country is inversely proportional to the rigour of its punishment system.
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