A person needs so much courage to either kill themselves or to kill others. It’s not natural for a human to kill another human. “A man needs only as much courage as it takes to live, not as much as it takes to kill.” If a person has reached the point where he dares to kill, then he has already crossed a dangerous psychological and emotional threshold.

Did you know that earlier, Mahatma Gandhi had said that “Hate the sin, not the sinner.” People used to commit crimes because of their circumstances, not because they were inherently bad. But today, however, killing has become casual. It isn’t because of money or for survival. It’s just because, out of anger, to satisfy their desires or some purpose. And that needs to be drawn.

Cases Where People Were Killed Due to Anger or Impulse:

1. On June 29^th, 2025, A 10yr old got stabbed to death by his father. Why? Just because He was adamant about playing in the rain.[1]
2. Meghalaya Honey-moon murder case just because she loved someone else.[2]
3. On May 22, 2024, a teenage girl in Uttar Pradesh killed her own father with a saw because he disapproved of her relationship.
4. In Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, a 26-year-old man suffering from mental illness brutally killed eight relatives, including his mother and newlywed wife, before taking his own life[3].

There are still many such cases ongoing today. This indicates the signs of societal collapse. If these are the reasons to kill, then you shouldn’t be amazed to see open killing in society, and we don’t need any licensed guns either. Our country becomes raged losing everything.

Earlier, when people worked hard and saved money at home, thefts were common. To ensure and keep their money safe, banks were introduced. But there comes the concept of robberies. A newer invention i.e., the internet banking believed to be safe and easier yet even that couldn’t evade the crime as cyber crime was in spike. Even criminals sourt out ways to steal in the digital world.

No matter where you go, no matter how far you try to escape, crime evolves, adapting to our systems. The methods change, but the intent remains the same. So, is punishment reducing crime?

The only way is to change the people who intend to commit the crime. The very initial stage of committing the crime shall be stopped. A person who leads a good lifestyle educates himself not to think to such an extent as to commit a crime. They would know the purpose of living, understand the value of another human. We don’t have to do much. Just provide the basics such as education, food, clothing, health, and employment. And remove corruption.

Is punishment reducing crime?

If so, the person who commits the crime shouldn’t commit the crime again. On May 7^th, 2025, news has stated that a repeat offender was arrested.[4]

Is the system India follows effective? Or do we need reforms in both law and governance?

The Current Punishment Model in India is Retributive in Nature

India is still treated by a predominantly retributive model of justice that was once posited by the colonial British courts and that is is currently codified in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The mechanism of this system is more inclined to punishment, specifically imprisonment, fine and death penalty. The feeling that we are actually continuing to perpetuate our penal policy by punishing the wrongdoer remains much the same even at the time when legal reform is being proposed.

The reasons to which India should adopt a rehabilitation oriented system.

 Reformative justice system does not exclude punishment, it complements it with meaning. The object is not to imprison merely but to reform. Such an example can be seen in countries such as Norway: in such countries, prisons act as centres of education, counseling, and skills training. The notorious Halden Prison gives inmates dignity, a sense of responsibility, and work with their hands on the real world[5].

On the contrary, Indian jails are congested, ill-equipped and they undermine basic human rights. A lot of the inmates are under trials awaiting trial years on end. There is no mental health assistance, profession training, and re-socialization.

The following activities should be contained in a rehabilitation-based system within India:

• Made mandatory all inmates should follow education and vocational training.
• Compulsory psychological treatment on issues of trauma, rage and dependency.
• Community re-integration programs that will give after-release employment and housing.
• Making prosthetics, educating poor children or assisting handicapped people, building, or working in shelters as movies demonstrating these types of activities such as Jawan where imprisonment turns into that new beginning.
• We should make sure that the individual steps out of prison with a meaning not bitterness. Make jails houses of rehabilitating lives, not destroying them.

The Indian Jail System of Isolating and Rehabilitation

In India jails were initially built to confine people rather than correct them. They are still densely populated and lack finances today. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed that the percentage of undertrials was more than 75 percent[6]. There is severe shortage of sanitation, mental services and education. In many cases of prison life, they are kept with nothing to do, which only builds up resentment and not rehabilitation.

Jails need to be recreated as facilities of social healing. Model examples of prisons should be built around the national service element as noted in the movie Jawan, which is based on the idea that some people will be able to produce prosthetics to the disabled population, tune uniform to the students, do community farming practices, and school themselves on renewable energy sources. The efforts make prisoners become nation-building contributors.

An ideal rehabilitation jail system would have:

• Organized everyday activities, including education, physical work, and treatment.
• Real-time social utility workshops and workshops.
• In person communication with victims (where possible) to encourage empathy.
• Periodic assessment by the psychologists and counselors who determine progress.
• The work of the jailer should change to a position of a mentor: he/she needs to deemphasize the role of an enforcer. They are not supposed to watch over the punishment; they have to lead the change. This system neither justifies the crime, but it prevents it to be repeated.

Rape Crimes- Legal Loopholes and Delays: Justice Denied and Re- Traumatization of the Victims

The survivors of rape despite the facts involved find themselves under ten years of delays as a result of the legal loopholes and procedurally providing delays. A ghastly example is that of Priyadarshini Mattoo. The case took years even after evidence was provided; instead, it was characterized by transfer petitions and adjournments ending with a conviction.[7]

In a similar outrageous move, a male who was convicted of attempted rape in 2005 is only supposed to start serving his sentence in the year 2025. A twenty years lag. The presence of the gaps not only withholds justice, but also increases the trauma of the victims.

Thus India has proposed 1,023 fast-track courts of which 752 are operational in 2023. The system is brought to its knees by shortage of judges, inadequate funding and bureaucratic obstacles.

 How then should it be?

• When a criminal is found guilty beyond any reasonable measure, the criminal cannot be granted automatic right to appeal unless some new evidence has emerged.
• In any case of proven rape, bail must be limited until the restoration of psyche reform and compensation are recorded.
• The families of the criminals should also be taken through counseling in order to know the seriousness of the crime – this will form a sense of accountability within the community.
• Throughout the process, survivors need counseling and legal assistance on their journey on the trauma.

Conclusion:

Our prisons must be life bringing schools. The law and governance have to move in tandem so that it does not only punish the robber and wipe him but also wipe out the factors that turn people into criminals. We need to change the discussion; now it is the question of how much should we punish. how well can we transform? Since it is not about revenge which is the step towards real justice. It is all about reconstruction

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[1] Press Trust of India, Father Stabs Son, 10, to Death After Fight Over Playing in Rain in Delhi: Cops, NDTV (June 29, 2025), https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/father-stabs-son-10-to-death-after-fight-over-playing-in-rain-in-delhi-cops-8793605.

[2] Rahul Karmakar, Meghalaya Honeymoon Murder: Wife Confesses to Involvement in Conspiracy, Says Police, The Hindu (June 12, 2025), https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/meghalaya-honeymoon-murder-wife-confesses-to-involvement-in-conspiracy-says-police/article66961688.ece.

[3] Mehul Malpani, Man Kills Eight Family Members, Self in Madhya Pradesh, The Hindu (May 29, 2024), https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/madhya-pradesh/man-kills-eight-family-members-self-in-madhya-pradesh/article66912587.ece.

[4] Repeat Offender Arrested for Killing Elder Couple in Hyderabad, TNN, May 7, 2025, 22:58 IST, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/120971749.cms.

[5] Halden Prison, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halden_Prison (last visited July 28, 2025)

[6] State of Undertrial Prisoners in India, Drishti IAS, Nov. 29, 2024, https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/state-of-undertrial-prisoners-in-india.

[7] Priyadarshini Mattoo, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priyadarshini_Mattoo (last visited July 28, 2025).