Rape and the Criminal Justice System

Two cases stand in sharp contrast today.

Case-I: Dimapur, Nagaland

Last month, on 24 Feb., 2015,  an immigrant trader in Dimapur, Nagaland was accused of raping a woman. He was arrested an lodged in the jail. Yesterday evening, a mob of over 1500 people barged into the jail, overpowered the guards, and dragged away the accused man. He was then lynched and had his body strung up on the town square.

Nagaland has one of the lowest incidence of crimes against women in India.  

Case-II: New Delhi, Delhi

More than three years' ago, on 16 Dec., 2012, a paramedic-student was gang-raped in a moving bus. The attack was so brutal that she succumbed to her injuries in a couple of weeks. In response to the huge public outrage that followed, a "fast-track" court was set-up. All the accused men were tried, and sentenced to death. The case, however, continues to linger under an appeal process. The remorseless ramblings of one the rapists is now the centrepiece of a BBC documentary "India's Daughter". 

If the legal maxim, "Justice delayed is justice denied" hold true, does the Indian Criminal Justice System inspire any public confidence or credibility? If this is how speedy justice is being administered by a "fast-track court", can the Nagas be faulted for lynching a rapist?


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LINKS

- Log kya kahenge? (what will people say?) -- http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/log-kya-kahenge
- BBC - India's Daughter - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvlwmIfyx0 (This link may not last -- YouTube seems to have agreed to GoI's demand to block this, at least in India)
- (5Mar15) - Salil Tripathy -- why it should be seen in India -- http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/34Ls4cgDsZaDbEH8TdLBmN/Why-Indias-Daughter-should-be-seen-in-India.html
- http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/comment-article-rape-rhetoric-and-reality/article6705077.ec
- WSJ - A Rape Map of India -- http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/01/03/a-rape-map-of-india/
- Parliamentary Debate -- http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/in-parliament-debate-on-documentary-on-delhi-gang-rape-india-s-daughter/358686?fb