Death penalty is not the answer: Amnesty

Says far-reaching procedural and institutional reforms were needed

As the four convicts in the Dec 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape were awarded the death sentence, international human rights organisastion Amnesty International Friday said far-reaching procedural and institutional reforms were needed, not the death penalty.

"The rape and murder of the young woman in Delhi last year was a horrific crime and our deepest sympathy goes out to the victim's family. Those responsible must be punished, but the death penalty is never the answer," Tara Rao, director, Amnesty International India, said.

"Sending these four men to the gallows will accomplish nothing except short-term revenge. While the widespread anger over this case is understandable, authorities must avoid using the death penalty as a 'quick-fix' solution," she said.

"There is no evidence that the death penalty is a particular deterrent to crime, and its use will not eradicate violence against women in India," Rao said in a statement.

The gang-rape took place when the young woman and her male companion boarded a bus in Munirka in south Delhi to return home after watching a movie.

The six attackers in the bus threw both the woman and her male companion out of the vehicle -- without clothes -- on the street in the cold December night after committing the ghastly crime.

The woman died of grave intestinal injuries Dec 29 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

Rao said: "Addressing this issue (violence against women) requires legal reform, but also sustained commitment by the authorities to ensure that the justice system responds effectively at all levels to reports of rape and other forms of sexual violence."

"The attention that authorities have given to this case must extend to the thousands of other pending cases of sexual violence in India as well," she said.