What should be done with the criminals?

What should be done with the criminals?

What should be done with the criminals?
a.) They should be kept away from the society with longer term in jail
b.) There should be a rehabilitation and education programme to mend them before allowing them back to the society.

What is your view? Give Reasons.

It is a very tough choice to make. One part of me definitely feels that there should be retribution for heinous crimes like rapes and murders. On the other hand, when logic dominates over emotions, I feel that vengeance would not help at all. But providing help to the lunatic who committed these crimes would definitely make this society a better place to live in and will eventually help in reducing the overall crime rate.

But another question is the amount of risk involved in trying to provide rehabilitation to a serial killer or a psychologically disturbed criminal. If the effort is successful, it’s a big step towards changing the society. But at the same time, if educating them or rehabilitating them doesn’t work, it would put lives of lot of innocent people at stake.

Talking about the “Nirbhaya Case” – a gang rape which was conducted in New Delhi on December 16, 2012, can we even think about letting those youth who were involved in this monstrous act get away without punishment? There have been people on the roads of not only New Delhi but multiple states in the country demanding the most severe punishment for them. Hence, it is easy to talk about rehabilitation and education of criminals but when the intensity of the act is really high, it is the punishment which should be given. At least it would help in reducing the crime rate to an extent as people will think twice about committing a heinous crime.

But I feel strongly that making new laws every now and then doesn’t help. But what helps is having a structure in place and implementing those laws most forcefully. Also, it is rightly said that “justice delayed is justice denied”. Generally, it has been seen that the judicial system in the country takes elongated time for taking a decision. This indirectly adds to the crime rate as people get confident about the fact no action will be taken against them.

However, if the crime is done at a very young age, then education, moral education and rehabilitation can be very effective tools in bringing a change in the mind set and personality of the criminal as it is easier to remould a person at a tender age.

Hence, the nature of punishment should depend upon the age, the magnitude of crime, past track record and the laws set by the judicial system. No one form of punishment may be equally effective in all the cases.