Singapore to use Delhi rape case to justify death penalty
Singapore: Singapore on Sunday said it would cite the Delhi gang-rape victim as an example to reject demands for abolition of death penalty in the city state.
In a Facebook post, Singapore’s Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam said he would often cite cases like these as examples when he discusses with people who want the death penalty in Singapore to be abolished.
Meanwhile, Shanmugam’s comments sparked hundreds of responses on his Facebook page. Some supported his stance on the death penalty, such as a netizen who went by the name OC Yeo, who said: “The death penalty must remain – otherwise justice cannot be served.” Others, however, said the punishment remains unjustifiable, the Straits Times reported.
A user called Joshua Chiang said the death penalty is “an arcane law that cannot be intellectually justified on any grounds”.
In response, Shanmugam, an Indian-origin minister, said he sees the punishment as “a necessary evil”.
In November, the Singapore parliament had passed legal reforms abolishing mandatory death sentences in some drug trafficking and murder cases.
Before the reforms, judges had no choice but to impose the death penalty on anyone convicted of murder or trafficking in drugs above specific volumes.
