On the morning of December 6th, the whole of India woke up and people were in a state of commotion. We were perplexed to hear that all the four accused, who were involved in the gruesome rape and heinous murder of a doctor in Hyderabad, were killed in an encounter by Hyderabad police, without any trial.
The people of India were applauding the actions of the Hyderabad police and started celebrating it as a victory as if they have won a huge battle. However, in reality, it is a pyrrhic victory. This victory seems to be baseless when we review its repercussions.
Temporarily, it seems to all of us, as an audacious attempt by the Hyderabad police, to instil fear in the minds of such perpetrators, to avert such acts in future. They deserve death but not in this manner.
This is no doubt it was a good step by the police to create fear in the minds of such criminal minded people, but the way it has been created is derogatory for the entire judiciary of India. The savage crime they have committed is beyond our comprehension and thought; as a result of which the whole country went berserk, and many started demanding the death penalty for them immediately. This emotional appeal of the people in the country probably led the Hyderabad police to surpass “due process of law’” which has sabotaged the basic tenants of our Constitution.
The plinth on which our whole Constitution of India is based on is ‘’Rule of law’’, which has been eroded and dismantled by this egregious act of the Hyderabad police. The country runs on certain rules and principles, written in the Constitution of our country, not on the whims and fancies of the police department.
If this incident acts as a precedent in future, for other such similar acts, then it can bring disastrous anarchy in our country. Moreover, it can put the whole system of democracy in peril and establish mobocracy, as we are the largest democracy in the world.
Now, it is the time to rectify the mistake, so that no untoward incidents happen like this in future. The Supreme Court should intervene and take Suo- Motu cognisance about the brutal rape cases happening every time. It should facilitate justice to all the survivors and victims through fast track trial. The reason for the delay is a lack of time-bound investigation.
The legislature should make a law in parliament which can help rape survivors to get justice, strictly, within one month. In this way, the faith of common people in democracy and 3 pillars of democracy that is executive, legislative and judiciary could be restored.
Gandhiji had once said “Means are more important than end”.