Retributive Justice And Ethics of Love Relating to Rape Victim

This book portrays theory and praxis on 'love' and 'justice' towards addressing rape cases in India. It critically frames the shortcomings of the judiciary in India in delivering justice that largely adjudicates under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The book brings out a crucial argument for an alternative paradigm centering on the reconciliatory process of the 'rape victim' and the 'offender' along with appropriate legal instruments. Towards this approach, the author draws the significance of retributive justice and ethics of love under the larger framework of Christocentric Ethics proposed by Paul Ramsey. The book also touches upon the concepts of 'Transcendence' and 'Immanence' while theorizing the frame of decision making on rape cases under the garb of love and justice.

Mr. Jajo Somi holds Master of Theology (M.TH.) from the United Theological College, Bangalore, under the Senate of Serampore College/University and now doing his doctoral degree (D.TH.) at the same college and university.

This work is a welcome contribution to the lesser known and neglected discourse on retributive justice and love in the light of Christian ethics. The work is being published at an appropriate time when the incidences of rape have been increasing day after day. The publication is also timely where theological reflection and discourse on justice and love with reference to rape victim are not only scanty but a grey area of theological discourse.

Retributive justice is a relatively new discourse although the concept has been rooted for long. The theme transcends various disciplines although the approaches and orientations would differ from each other. As a discourse, the theme is largely associated with ethics, law and other disciplines of the social sciences. Theology has been one of the foremost disciplines that have been concerned with retributive justice. Among these theological realms, Christian theology has been considerably taking the lead in addressing justice.

Despite the relevance of the subject matter, no religion seems to seriously embark on the discourse of justice, or in the least, the space for discourse is either restricted or is not encouraged. Every religion seems to be holding the principle that (their) religion is a sui generis phenomenon, and therefore would avert from any discourse. Thus, by and large, one would observe the insistence of a static approach to religious discourse. This is one of the main reasons why the so-called religious authorities would even go to the extent of considering some scholars and/or believers as heretic for flouting new perspective/s on any of the dimensions of the belief system and practice.

In view of the general view and attitude in dealing with the cases relating to rape with serious confusion on 'retributive justice' and 'love', this small book intends to examine the nature of relationship between the two for a better understanding of these concepts and their inter-relationships. This piece of work is undertaken with the hypothesis that there is no true love without retributive justice between the rapist and rape victim.

'Retributive justice' is a theory under ethics relating to punishment for crime in one way or the other. The theory cuts across various disciplines such as ethics, law, philosophy, and among others. Generally, the notion is considered as strict as 'tit for tat', but practically it has compensatory component as well. As a result, it serves as an equalizer between the offender and the victim with a view to restoring a just relationship through crime. Besides, it is also a natural law for any crime. In the absence of crime, such law would have no relevance. Its function is to prevent excessive and vengeful and to deliver justice. By ushering justice, one can see true love for a person as a unique individual. Retributive justice has been variedly viewed by different Christian groups. In some Christian approaches, it is observed that there is priority of love over justice. Many people who are deeply concerned with Christian faith and the centrality of love fail to grasp the meaning of justice. Therefore, it is argued that there can be no possibility to measure justice with a narrow understanding of love, or a misconceived notion of love. In other words, love cannot be lawless. Though distinct, justice and love serve together in times of dealing with crime. Love alone cannot solve the problem of any case, especially the rape case without justice. In this small book, I have attempted to analyze 'retributive justice' and 'love' under the larger framework of 'Christocentric ethics' proposed by Paul Ramsey. This framework is chosen because ethics today, stresses more on duties/responsibilities than on rights, and emphasizes that Christian love be measured through worldly justice' in dealing with the case 'similarly' and 'dissimilarly, The book mainly focuses on the relationship between 'retributive justice' in the form of 'justice of compensation' and 'love' in the form of 'neighborly love' from Christian perspective with reference to rape victim. The theoretical findings will be based on the decision-making of the case in relation to Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The purpose of this book is to try to overthrow any attempt of decision-making based on strict retributive justice, to elevate obligatory compensation on rapist as a common norm representing justice and love and to decide the case depending on the condition of rape victim and rapist alone. By doing this, it is believed that it help in formulating the strategy to prevent the incidence of rape In the society.