Capital Punishment in India: A Public Perception

Abstract

The study involved 402 participants, of which 263 were females, 138 males and 1 non-binary between the age group of 18 and above, belonging to those who had access to the internet and were familiar with the English language. For the study a three-part questionnaire was developed and administered to Indian participants who met the inclusion criteria. The questionnaire was divided into demographic details, support towards death penalty measure using the Likert scale, and additional questions regarding the same. The results showed moderate support towards death penalty by majority of the participants (n=326). There exists a significant difference between the views of men and women regarding the crimes for which death penalty should be used as punishment and executing individuals with mental illnesses. There also exists a belief in the deterrence effect of death penalty, which is correlated to the support of death penalty (r=0.69, p<0.01). The latter is also positively correlated to death penalty hindering the right to life of the convicted (r=0.52, p<0.01). Participants also believe imprisonment is harsher than death penalty.