Recently, a court in India sentenced a convict in the rape and murder case to life imprisonment until death. However, people across the country wanted capital punishment. This has raised certain questions: Does capital punishment have a place in a civilised society and is that the deterrent to heinous crimes? There are some countries that have abolished capital punishment, and the Arab Islamic nations still decapitate the convicts in the public. And yet rapes, murders and highway robberies happen periodically in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Then, what purpose does capital punishment serve? Why do masses insist upon the same? “There is a fine line between justice and vengeance. It is easy to cross that line when you are consumed by anger and grief. While justice aims to restore order and uphold righteousness, vengeance is driven by anger and desire for retaliation….It is important to exercise caution and restraint…and act with a clear mind and a sense of fairness in the pursuit of justice, rather than let emotions cloud our judgment,” writes Sumit Paul. The struggle for existence can bring out peaceful and ethical approach in some, while in others, violent and ruthless approach. “
But what then is capital punishment but the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal’s deed, however calculated it may be, can be compared?” wrote Albert Camus. When we decide to take a life when a life has been lost, it is revenge, not justice. The duty of the state is to protect the lives of its citizens, be they criminals or commoners. Most societies refrain from capital punishment because it is degrading for both, those who impose and also on whom it is imposed. Firstly, capital punishment is irreversible. Also, in this mode of punishment there is no guarantee that innocent people will not be put to death. “Returning hate for hate multiples hate….Humans have to be humane to universally discard death rap as an outright inhuman act, thought and practice. It must prick our conscience,” writes Sumit Paul. (The Free Press Journal, February 8, 2025)
H.P.B.’s advice has been that human laws must be restrictive and not punitive, because we do not have the wisdom to mete out adequate punishment, such that it would give the person chance to repent and turn the corner. The occult reason why theosophy is against Capital Punishment is that an executed criminal though physically dead, is astrally alive. He is filled with the feeling of hatred towards society and all those who were responsible for his trial and execution; as also strong feelings of revenge. He can inject thoughts of crime into the minds of sensitive and mentally weak people and incite them to commit crime. We then hear of cases in which a crime is committed by weak persons who appear to be carried away by some outside force. While in the body, a criminal is able to influence only a few, but after death, living in the astral body, his area of influence is unlimited.
H.P.B. seems to suggest that a criminal is like a leper born in a leper colony. No one is born a criminal, and society or circumstances are also responsible for making a person what he is. So much of terrorism is in the name of religion, and arises from the false and literal interpretation of lofty spiritual concepts. What is the best method of reforming the criminals? Rehabilitation, imprisonment and religious rehabilitation programmes have been considered to be better alternatives to hanging. Unfortunately, prisons, which seek to improve the character of prisoners, tend to degrade it instead, as they lack empathy. No lasting reform can be achieved unless human nature is changed. The individual criminal needs to have ideals put before him that can prompt a change in his mental and moral outlook.
Let us remember that all crimes are not premeditated. At times, they are committed on the spur of the moment and the person is truly repentant. “We have to learn to look intelligently into the hearts of men.” We cannot isolate ourselves from the wicked and foolish people, because the world that we live in today is of our own making. “Remember that the sin and shame of the world are your sin and shame; for you are a part of it; your Karma is inextricably interwoven with the great Karma,” teaches Light on the Path.
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This article also appeared in The Theosophical Movement. For more articles published in this excellent magazine follow this link: https://www.ultindia.org/magazines/tm.html