Mansi Ahuga and Sameeksha Dua
For aeons, simpletons and scholars alike have argued the morality of condemning a perpetrator to capital punishment. Nevertheless, scarce debate has ever been done on whether death row prisoners deserve treatment for their mental health issues. Though of paramount importance, this issue seems to have escaped the eyes of the mainstream media. The culpability of an accused cannot be adjudged without taking into consideration the experiences that moulded him as a person nor can we ignore any psychological or cognitive disabilities faced by him either before incarceration or on death row. The authors aim to address this lacuna in this article, from a multi-faceted approach by taking the ethical, psychological, social, and legal factors into account. Further, an honest attempt has been made to suggest some reforms that must be implemented as expeditiously as possible. It follows from this paper that the death row prisoners, though responsible for committing ghastly crimes, still deserve treatment that is at par with that of any other prisoner.
