Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - " As Church of India we are against death penalty and we ask for the salvation of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins. We hope that our country will firmly take the road of abolishing capital punishment": this is what His Exc. Mgr. Vincent Concessao, Archbishop of New Delhi says to Fides, and was asked about the case which is dividing public opinion in India, the probable execution of three of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins.
The Archbishop explains: "In India what is needed is to train people to understand why death penalty needs to be abolished: not much has been done in this regard. Many say that terrorists have no right to live or that the death penalty is a deterrent to crimes. But has death penalty reduced murders? The answer is no. People should also be aware of the fact that life is a precious gift from God, the author and giver of life. Only God, not man, can give and take life".
A court of first instance in Madras, in the first instance had sentenced to death the 26 defendants in the case of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, the leader killed on 21 May 1991 by a suicide bomber of the "Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam", a rebel group which is active in Sri Lanka. The Supreme Court then annulled the death sentence against the 22 defendants, confirming it for four, and commuting to life imprisonment for one of them. In recent weeks, the request for clemency for the three condemned Perarivalan, Santhan and Murugan, presented to the President of India, was rejected and now they are waiting for the date of execution. The debate in the nation is heated and many abolitionist organizations of civil society call for the commutation of death penalty to life imprisonment. In recent days in Tamil Nadu, a 27-year-old woman, committed suicide, setting herself on fire, demanding the release of the three activists.
Death penalty is in force in India as a legacy on behalf of the British order, there are about 400 inmates on death row. The country, however, has not applied it since 2004, adhering to a "de facto moratorium". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 14/09/2011)
