By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net,
The death penalty awarded to Mahendra Nath Das has provoked a debate over death penalty in Assam. In India death penalty is executed through only one method, that is, by hanging to death. According to media sources, the last hangings in Assam took place in Jorhat Central Jail in 1989 and 1990. On November 20, 1989, Henry W. Robert of Sivasagar, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering a young boy in Tinsukia, was hanged. This was followed by the hanging of Kanpai Buragohain of Dhemaji district convicted of multiple murders, on July 27, 1990.
The incident
It was a clear morning when Harakanta Das was having tea along with some friends at a tea stall in Fancy Bazaar area of Guwahati on April 24, 1996, little knowing that it was his last cup of tea. Harakanta Das was then secretary of the Guwahati Truck Drivers’ Association. Mahendra Nath Das arrived on the scene and chopped off his hand and then he hacked him to death by beheading him. Later, Mahendra entered the Fancy Bazaar police outpost with the severed head of the victim in one hand and the blood-stained knife in the other. He was immediately arrested by the police. After a year, the Session’s Court sentenced him to death on August 18, 1997, convicting him under Section 302 IPC. The judicial process was completed after the High Court confirmed the death sentence in February 1998 and the Supreme Court rejected the appeal in May 1999. Mahendra preferred mercy petition on 4.6.99 before the President of India and thereafter, on 14.10.05 and 18.12.06, representations were also filed before the President to pardon him but it was only decided upon in May 27, 2011 and the president of India rejected his mercy petition.
Latest development in the case
A Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising of Justice BK Sharma and Justice BP Katakey, after hearing a Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 17/11 filed by Kusumbala Tarun Das, mother of Mahendra Nath Das, stayed the execution of the death sentence of Mahendra on June 7, 2011. It was prayed in the petition that the decision on mercy petition took prolonged period and hence the petition before the Gauhati High Court. AK Bhattacharjee, senior advocate of the Gauhati High Court, along with Yog Chaudhury of the Bombay High Court represented the petitioner. The Court issued notice to the Assam and central governments to be deposed before the court by June 17th.
Mahendra is currently under confinement at Jorhat jail while a hunt for hangman is going on.
Public opinion
The case has ignited debate over the death penalty. Jamsher Ali of Centre for Minority Studies Research and Development, is of the view that death penalty is a complicated subject. Death penalty is awarded in certain cases to maintain law and order or to deter certain crimes. But when someone is murdered and later the murderer is also punished with death, another family is added to the list of sufferers. In this sense, the state becomes the perpetrator. In the case of Mahendra Nath, Jamsher believes that since the killer has surrendered and confessed his guilt, leniency must prevail. He didn’t try to abscond and instead helped the administration in his own prosecution. Moreover, 12 years’ lapse is a mental torture and a degrading punishment. Hence death penalty in his case is not justified.
Komoruzaman Ahmed of Hazrat Ayesha Educational Trust, Guwahati, believes that mass murderers always go unpunished. ‘Militant groups like ULFA/NDFB has killed many in Assam like in the October 30, 2008 serial bombing in Guwahati or killing of children in Dhemaji blast on Independence Day in 2003. Those who have conspired the killings are now garlanded and received by the people with ‘gamocha’ (traditional greetings), while a non-habitual killer like Mahendra Nath Das who murdered someone under sudden provocation is facing death penalty.
Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti, a Guwahati based human rights organization, is actively campaigning for the release of Mahendra Das. Aditya Lahkar, President of the organization, is of the opinion that Mahindra is the victim of ‘double jeopardy’ or double punishment for one crime. He said, ‘I do believe that the guilty must be punished but death penalty must be abolished. There are many instances all over the world where death penalty has been used for political gains like that of Saddam Hussain or Afghan leader Najibullah. There are many instances where death penalty has been abused. Death penalty means ‘for one death, kill another.’ Aditya also believes that Mahendra has already undergone tremendous agony while waiting for the confirmation of his punishment. ‘For the last 12 years, he has been suffering mentally. Every day he woke up thinking that his death might get confirmed at the end of the day’, he said. Aditya also pointed out that ignorance of the legal system and ‘poor economic condition’ of the family barred Mahendra in getting a good advocate to defend his case. Mahendra committed the crime on April 24, 1996 and within a year his death sentence was pronounced by the Session’s Court on August 18, 1997 followed by a long wait for the final verdict.
Arup Borbora, one of the advocates fighting for Mahendra in Guwahati High Court, informed that Mahendra has been a victim of ‘double jeopardy’ as he has been behind bars for the last 14 years and his execution is delayed. He cited that there are cases decided by the Supreme Court where 8 years’ delay was considered unreasonable and execution of death penalty was nullified.
Sympathizers of Mahendra Das have formed the ‘Mahendra Nath Das Suraskha Samiti’ and are collecting public signatures to save Mahendra. About 1000 signatures will be collected and will be submitted to the Chief Minister along with a memorandum in an attempt to save Mahendra from the gallows.
International criminal justice trends
108 countries in the world have abolished death penalty either by law or by practice. International criminal tribunals like the International Criminal Tribunal of former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) that carry out trials on genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are prohibited by their statutes from impairing death sentences. No research could confirm that the imposition of death penalty deters crime, other than disappearing a few criminals who could be neutralized otherwise by alternative modes of punishment like life imprisonment. Keeping these developments in mind, a democratic welfare country like India needs to abolish death penalty and adopt alternative methods of punishment like life imprisonment as a token of respect for public opinion and criminal justice. Crimes cannot be abolished by eliminating a few criminals and hence reformative approach for punishment should be widely practiced.