Sir — The Supreme Court’s recent observation that rape conviction rate is going from bad to worse, is frightening. It is distressing to note that a majority of rape cases end in acquittal.
In other words, a negligible 10 per cent of the accused are convicted. This percentage will nosedive further given the fact that many sex-related crimes are either not reported or not recorded by the law enforcement agencies. After the unprecedented nationwide protest against the infamous Delhi gang rape case, people expected and hoped that there would be a decline in crimes against women. Unfortunately, that has not happened and sexual assaults and molestations have only increased in recent times. Worse, the offenders have become more brazen and have little fear of law.
However, it is not the ‘severity’ of the punishment but the ‘certainty’ of the punishment which is a deterrent. There is bound to be a drastic reduction in sex-related crimes if the conviction rate goes up. Fear of punishment is the biggest disincentive for a potential criminal.