27 Pro Death Penalty Quotes by Victims' Families



“I had been asking for the death penalty for all three . . .," she said after the ruling.

Fumiko Isogai is the mother of Rie Isogai, a company worker who was murdered by three men for her money. Fumiko Isogai, who had her only child killed in this crime, launched a campaign to call for the death penalty. Within ten days, her petition was signed by 100,000 citizens. She presented her petition for the death penalty. About 318,000 citizens had signed her petition by December 2008.

Tuesday 12 April 2011 - IN A small, sparsely-furnished apartment in the suburbs of Taipei, Mrs Chou Chang Chan's hands shake as she holds a picture of a sharply-dressed young man - her son, who was brutally murdered at age 32.

Two men were sentenced to death last year for stabbing him in an attempted burglary. If there is one thing his mother and her ailing husband hope to live to see, it is the sentences being carried out.

'We're in our eighties now. We don't know when we'll die but we're only willing to go once we've seen the execution. The government should return justice to the family,' she said.

In her small apartment, Chou Chang-chan hopes her son's killers will be executed soon. A new moratorium is unthinkable to her, as is the idea of the killers serving life sentences.

"We can't keep bad people around, people would be frightened to death. If they are released, they will kill again," she said.

Taiwan has 40 prisoners on death row. The date of their executions is yet to be announced.

Chou Chang Chan whose 32 year old son was stabbed to death for burglary. The two murderers were sentenced to death in 2010 in Taiwan.

Javier was buried early Monday. Hours later, sitting in her home of cinderblock and corrugated tin, the boy's mother, Laura Vega, said she has no idea why the kidnappers targeted her family. But she said she felt they should face the death penalty, long banned in Mexico, and that they should "suffer the way my son suffered."

"He didn't have to die like that, far from his parents," she said, her eyes red and swollen from crying. "If he had to go to God, it shouldn't have been like that."

 

Laura Vega mother of Javier Morena, a five-year-old boy kidnapped from a Mexico City street market and they killed him by injecting acid into his heart on Sunday 26 October 2006.

"Regardless of which government is in power, the crime situation is getting worse, not better. It takes someone with testicular fortitude to implement the death penalty. Once you stand up for the right things, changes will occur. We, the law-abiding citizens, are the ones who live with burglar-proofing all around, but the criminals roam free. They are laughing at us. The criminals have a blatant disregard for the law."

Dennis Ramjattan said while human rights activists might object to the death penalty, the rights of the victims ought to also be considered. "What about the rights of the victims? Do they have rights as well? My mother didn't deserve to die like this," he said. "My mother never got into any trouble with the law, never even a parking violation. I would like them (the Government) to stop talking and put their money where their mouths are. They said crime was number one on their agenda when they spoke before elections. But what we need is less lip service and more action before anything can change."

Dennis Ramjattan is the son of San Fernando grandmother Carmen Ramjattan who was bludgeoned to death on February 2013, is calling on the Government to implement the death penalty.

Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption founding chair Dante Jimenez and Lauro Vizconde, whose wife and two daughters were stabbed dead in 1991, Wednesday visited Venson Evangelista’s wake and offered their sympathies to the grieving family.

Vizconde, who recently lost an appeal to reverse the acquittal of the accused in his family’s murders, hugged the father and whispered words of comfort.

Vizconde said criminals had nothing to fear because they knew they could get away unpunished.

“Once the death penalty is restored, criminals will think twice before committing a crime,” he said.

Lauro Vizconde whose wife and two daughters were stabbed dead in 1991 in the Philippines.

Tuesday 2 October 2012 - “Give him the maximum sentence, the death sentence if possible,” Tauri said at the South Jakarta district police station. “He should at least serve a lifetime because he took my son’s life.”

 

Tauri refused to comment on whether the suspect’s family would apologize.

“[I’m] still unstable,” Tauri said. “[My mood] is still changing. How would you feel if your son died like that?”

Tauri said that he has let go of his son, but he still wanted justice to be served and wants the perpetrator to receive the maximum punishment.

“I have let go because if I don’t, his [soul] will suffer. That’s how it is in Islam,” he said. “But regarding the punishment, we want him to receive maximum punishment.”

Tauri Yusianto is the father of Alawy Yusianto Putra, an Indonesian student who was killed in September 2012 fight between rival schools, wants the suspect to in the case to be sentenced to death or serve the rest of his life in prison.

Saturday 12 November 2011 - He said criminals like the one who sexually abused, strangled and hacked her daughter to death on November 8 have no right to live.

“I want the death sentence to be restored what they did to my daughter was not a doing of a normal man, but of the devil. The criminal should be hanged; he must not be given a chance to reproduce. He will only breed criminals like him,” the father said in vernacular. 

Ruben Mangada is the father of a 14-year-old minor, called on the government to restore death penalty for perpetrators of heinous crimes. On Tuesday 8 November 2011,  the victim was found dead under the coconut trees, some hundred meters away from the Catarman National High School (CNHS) where she was a third year student. Results of the autopsy conducted on the victim by Police Superintendent Pierre Paul Carpio of the Police Crime Laboratory Office showed that the victim was hacked several times on the head, neck and left ankle. It was confirmed that the victim was raped. The Catarman Police already arrested the suspect, a 21-year-old former drugstore helper, Jayson Maravilla, through a hot pursuit operation. Maravilla was allegedly seen by two witnesses carrying a bolo and walking from the crime scene. Police Officer 2 Leo Magpayo said Maravilla has already admitted of committing the crime a day after his arrest.

Monday 31 December 2012 - The family of a murdered Indian gang-rape victim will not rest until her killers are hanged, her brother has said in an interview.

"The fight has just begun. We want all the accused hanged, and we will fight for that, till the end," the brother told the Indian Express.

Thursday 3 January 2013 - The father and the brother of the victim – who cannot be named – told the Daily Telegraph that the youngest attacker was the most vicious participant in the assault and deserved to die for his alleged crimes.


"All six should be hanged especially the juvenile who was the most brutal," the 53-year-old father said. "If the law has to be changed to enable that then so be it."

The family of Delhi gang rape victim on Friday 25 January 2013, said it would not want anything less than death sentence for all the accused, including the minor, and urged the central government to amend the law in this connection.

The offer of a government job to one in the family by Delhi government was turned down by the victim's brother.

"The family would never accept that the person who played a major role in the crime is let off with a mere punishment of three years only because he has the excuse that he is a minor," the grandfather of the 23-year-old victim said.

2012 Delhi gang rape case - the 2012 Delhi Gang Rape Case involves a rape and murder that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood located in the southern part of New Delhi, when a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern was beaten and gang raped in a bus in which she was travelling with her male companion. There were only six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman. The woman died from her injuries thirteen days later while undergoing emergency treatment in Singapore. The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was condemned by various women's groups, both in India and abroad. Subsequently, public protests against the Government of India and the Government of Dehli for not providing adequate security for women took place in New Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country. All the accused were arrested and charged with sexual assualt and murder. The accused driver, Ram Singh, died in police custody on 11 March 2013 in the Tihar Jail. According to some published reports, the police say Ram Singh hanged himself, but defense lawyers and his family suspect he was murdered. The rest of the accused remain on trial in a fast-track court.
"An eye for an eye. A life for a life," was the chant outside the Suri court compound as relatives of the victims of the Suchpur massacre demanded the death penalty for the convicts. "Hang at least 11 of them one for each of our men they killed," said one of them.
The kin of the victims said they were satisfied that justice had finally come after more than 10 years. "We expected capital punishment for at least some of the key convicts," said Mosaraf Ali, whose brother Asraf Ali of Harmur village was one of the 11 victims.


"I came to the court this morning to see what happens. I knew justice would be served. We are happy but not completely happy. The 11 who were killed were first held captive in a room and brutally murdered, one by one. We cannot even imagine the agony they went through. My mother, who cries every day, says that at least 11 should be sentenced to death. We will take the fight to a higher court so that the convicts never get any breather." 

After hearing the judgment Rafique said: "My brother was killed brutally. He was beaten to death by the CPM leaders and supporters who stand in dock today. The only suitable punishment is death."

Khalek Seikh, who was a witness in the case, said: "I was an RSP supporter then. That fateful morning I was crossing the road when I saw the 11 being beaten by CPM leaders and supporters. I witnessed the bloody violence. My conscience forced me to leave the party and join Trinamool. I was attacked several times but I explained before court what I had seen. I feel happy that my testimony has sent them to jail. But some of them should have got the death sentence."

Victims’ families of the Nanoor Massacre refers to the massacre of 11 landless labourers allegedly by CPI(M) activists in Suchpur, near Nanoor and under Nanoor police station, in Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal, on 27 July 2000.

Anticrime crusaders revived the debate on the death penalty after the father of slain car dealer Venson Evangelista called for its reimposition Wednesday.

“I want the death penalty restored and car theft made a nonbailable [offense]. We don’t want these murders to continue hounding us,” Arsenio Evangelista said in reference to the killing of his son, Emerson Lozano and Ernane Sensil.

"I'm for the reimposition of the death penalty as a deterrent." Arsenio told reporters at the cremation of the cadaver of Venson at the St. Peter's Chapel in Quezon City on Saturday 22 January 2011.

Arsenio Evangelista whose son, Venson a car dealer was murdered in the Philippines.

Monday 30 May 2011 - “I felt very happy after hearing that President Pratibha Patil had rejected his plea for mercy. Such capital punishment will send a message that criminals are bound to face punishment in our country. It will restrain criminals from committing crimes,” Amal, Hara Kanta’s elder son, said today.

Amal the son of Hara Kanta Das - Hara Kanta Das was beheaded by Mahendra Nath Das and his head to Fancy Bazar police outpost where he surrendered. The family said Hara Kanta had gone to buy fodder for cattle when Mahendra attacked him from behind and killed him. Amal said the family came to learn of the incident when someone came running to their house around 7.30am with the news. Sarada said she and her husband were at home and one of her sons was taking tuition in the house when the news came. After Hara Kanta’s murder on April 24, 1996, his younger son, Suresh, died in 2007 and his wife in 2009.

Tuesday 6 September 2011 - CHENNAI: Around 500 Youth Congress activists led by state unit president M Yuvaraj courted arrest before the Gandhi statue on the Marina Beach in Chennai on Tuesday demanding withdrawal of the state assembly resolution which has recommended that President Pratibha Patil commute the death sentence of three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to life terms.

Among those held were the son and wife of a Congress leader who was killed along with Rajiv Gandhi in the suicidal blast by an LTTE team at Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram district in May 1991.

More than a thousand Youth Congress activists gathered at the spot to express their condemnation of the assembly resolution passed on August 30 by the House.

"We demand nothing less than death penalty for the convicts Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan as they played roles in the heinous murder of our leader Rajiv Gandhi," Yuvaraj said adding, "the chief minister Jayalalithaa has to answer why her party moved the resolution without considering the traumatic bereavement suffered by 15 families following the blast."

Angry over the vociferous campaign in favour of commuting the death penalty awarded to three convicts for their role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the family members of those who died along with the former prime minister have decided to go on a similar path of agitation to ensure that the punishment given by the apex court is executed.

On that May 21, 1991, night when a suicide bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi, 15 others in the vicinity lost their lives. They have kept silent for years as the case trudged forward, and have been rarely written about.

But now, with the Tamil Nadu Assembly joining the appeals to commute the death sentence to convicts V Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthentharajan alias Santhan, and A G Perarivelan alias Arivu — a campaign they feel is politically motivated — they have decided to come forward.

The son of one of the victims and some Congress workers undertook a march in Chennai on Tuesday demanding that the men be hanged, while on Friday, a one-day fast will be held in which many more leaders and relatives of at least seven affected families are expected to take part.

“The politicians who are campaigning for their freedom say these three are Tamils. But so were the ones who were killed along with Rajiv. Justice is absolute, there is no space for regionalism or nationalism,” says Javid Iqbal, son of T K S Mohammed Iqbal, the superintendent of police who was killed in the blast.

Javid had just completed his Class X exams when his father died. “We received a call a little past 10 pm informing us that an explosion had occurred but were assured that my father had sustained only injuries, only to find his lifeless body at the Government Hospital in Sriperumbudur. From then on, life changed drastically; it became miserable for all of us, particularly my mother who is yet to come out of the trauma of losing him all of a sudden,” Javid says.

Like him, Balasaraswati, whose husband Rajaguru was among the dead, is yet to reconcile to the loss. “They should be hanged for the crime they committed, for the sufferings we underwent for two decades since that night. Our children were very young when the incident happened, and his salary as a police inspector was the only source of income for the family. We have struggled to make ends meet ever since, depending on the little money that we received as pension,” she says, speaking to The Indian Express from her native Thirunelveli district.

Settled on the outskirts of Chennai, Balasaraswati had gone to Thirunelveli prior to Rajiv’s visit to Sriperumbudur as part of the Lok Sabha election campaign. On May 21, she was on her way back when the train she was travelling in was stopped near Vridhachalam as news about the blast spread across the state. “At that point of time, I didn’t panic as I thought he being only an inspector would be quite away from the VIP and thus the blast site. But I was wrong; I found it out in the newspapers the next morning. My husband was also killed, leaving behind me and two small children,” she recalls. Her son is now a sub-inspector with the Tamil Nadu Police.

Also among those who lost their lives that night was veteran Congress member ‘League’ Munusamy, a 62-year-old former freedom fighter and member of the erstwhile Legislative Council. “That the incident happened 20 years ago is not a valid reason to forget the seriousness of the crime. This is not a usual case of murder out of rage or emotions. It was a planned murder of a former prime minister that should be viewed as a special case. And the punishment was awarded by the trial court and was confirmed by the Supreme Court. If it is not executed, it will only create a wrong precedent where justice is subverted by emotions,” says his son ‘League’ M Mohan, currently a PCC member, who was part of the march on Tuesday seeking that the convicts get their due punishment.

The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi , the sixth Prime Minister of India in an explosion, took place in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, India on 21 May 1991. At least 14 others were also killed. Rajiv Gandhi's assassination was carried out by Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, also known as Dhanu, who was found after investigations to be an LTTE suicide bomber. At the time India was embroiled, through the Indian Peace Keeping Force, in the Sri Lankan Civil War. Subsequent accusations of conspiracy have been addressed by two commissions of inquiry, and have brought down at least one national government. The LTTE denied responsibility.