2012 rape-murder verdict: Key points

The following are the key points in the 2012 rape-murder case of a teenage girl delivered by Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat:

* Perpetrators of crimes like rape and murder forfeit their right to live. Life imprisonment is highly inadequate in these cases and there is no alternative but to impose the death sentence.

* The crime committed by the convicts undoubtedly falls in that class which shake the conscience of society and call for harshest punishment.

* These criminals are a menace to society and don't deserve to be kept alive.

* The rape and murder of a girl in her teens is a distinct class of offence and cannot be equated with cases involving only rape or only murder. It is combination of two distinct heinous offences calling for capital punishment.

* It is not possible to ignore the social impact of the crimes like rape and murder as these offences have greater impact upon the social order.

* Public interest cannot be lost sight of and hence these offences per se require exemplary treatment.

* If any benefit is sought to be given to the convicts on this score, it would amount to acknowledging that killing a girl after raping her is not a serious crime and this would encourage the rapists to kill their victims in order to escape being caught or identified, having the belief in their minds that law is on their side and they are not going to be hanged.

* The time has come when the courts should deal with such heinous crimes sternly in order to send a strong message to society so that nobody dares to engage in such brutal crimes.