Ok I can understand the point of the beheading (to kill the guy), but what is the point or significance of crucifying him?
It shames his family.
I may be incorrect here, but I am also under the impression that many Muslims believe that desecration and mishandling of the corpse can have an effect on a person's soul in the afterlife. In a heavily religious culture, this can have a powerful deterrent effect-- and given the opportunity, I certainly would not hesitate to attempt to curse the soul of a child rapist either before or after I've killed him. This is mostly out of spite, but if it keeps the soul from ever coming back then so much the better.
The death sentence should only be carried out in a civilized society when there is obviously no hope of rehabilitation for the criminal. The criminal demonstrate no remorse, no repentance, and all signs that he would repeat the offense.
Studies have shown that this is all but guaranteed in the case of sexual offenses against prepubescent children. I understand and must reluctantly accept the argument that it would provide an incentive for offenders to kill their victims, but the overwhelming majority of child rapists fit your classification here.
On the other hand, given the rate of re-offense and the average number of victims before first conviction, I'm almost convinced that it's worth it anyway. Murder is much easier to detect and much easier to prosecute, meaning that the number of victims would be drastically reduced and execution guarantees that the risk of recidivism drops to zero. How many children must be raped before it's as terrible as one child being murdered? I can't answer that with any certainty; my heart breaks even trying to consider it.
It should be reserved for criminals so dangerous that in the improbable event of escape, someone else will surely die. Even a small risk like that is unacceptable.
There are things worth than death. And if you do enough damage in other ways, to other people, the consequences will eventually lead indirectly to someone's death.
The death penalty should be approached with a heavy heart that a human being is being terminated but with a clinical mentality that a clear and present threat to society is being eliminated.
All this beheading and crucifying crap is just barbaric and over the top.
I am inclined to agree with all of this. Too many people seem to take pleasure in the thought of killing monsters like this. As necessary as it is, there is no glory in it, no victory to celebrate. There is only a wasted life and far too much pointless suffering.
The reason most child rapists do not kill their victims is because they unfortunately know that rape is not punishable by death.
Hmm. I would argue that the primary reason most child rapists do not kill their victims is that they are related to them and in most cases love them, in the limited capacity that their diseased hearts allow them to. Unlike most crimes, child molestation is typically the product of compulsion rather than the perpetrator's belief that he can "get away with it."
Of course, this doesn't change the fact that a person compelled to rape children might be inclined to murder their victims if they believed it would improve their chances of getting away with it-- especially if the rape itself carried the death penalty.
In order to try and get these rapist to not kill their victims the system has decided to not punish their offense with death.
I'd also argue that the reason we do not execute child rapists is nothing so rational as this, but because we are squeamish about applying the death penalty to anything but premeditated murder. Substitute child rape with other offenses of similar magnitude-- which I will admit are few and far between-- and most people will argue against the death penalty as fervently as they would support it, irrationally, in the case of child rape.