Murder

Murder

Introduction:

Of all the felonies and crimes known to man, murder is the most severe and unacceptable one, which causes irreparable damage. None of the culture and no part of the world allows such crimes, and all cultures and religions have extreme punishment for the murderer.

Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of another individual and is usually preplanned and aforethought. There could be several reasons behind the murder, the list is endless, but the most common and widely found reason is hatred for the one murdered. Whatever the reason might be, the fact remains that murder is an offensive and highly condemnable act, which is also condemned and declared illegal by almost all of the religions, as well as state constitutions of the world.

Murder is considered an unacceptable and unforgivable crime as it causes extreme grief and sorrow upon the near and dear ones of the victim and the damage caused to them cannot be reversed or compensated. The acts causes disturbance in the general social order of the society, and most of the countries have harshest punishments for this act, in order to seriously discourage the practice and make sure that the highly condemnable crime does not become rampant. In most parts of the world, the murderer is sentenced either to life penalty with heavy fine, or to the death sentence. There has been great debate over granting or not granting of death sentence, and different societies have a different opinion on the matter, depending upon the cultural and the religious values prevailing in that area. No time frame is allotted for prosecution of the murderer (in most parts of the world), and whenever the murderer is found, he is charged and prosecuted.

Murder—a condemnable act:

Origin of Murder:

According to most of the books of history, the first murder on earth was of Ötzi the Iceman, who was murdered in 3255 BC and the body was well preserved by ice. Ötzi was murdered using an arrow which hit him and then he died due to blood loss. However, the theory is based on assumption and ideas, as the actual circumstances are not known (D' Cruze, 2006).

In olden times, a few types of homicides were not considered illegal and under specific circumstances those were allowed and considered legal, as well. The first known restriction against murder appeared in the Sumerian code of Ur-Nammu that appeared somewhere between 2100 and 2050 BC. The code called for killing of the murderer and declared murder to be an unlawful and condemnable act. Another way of compensating for the murder is to pay a certain amount to the victim's family, and the law has its roots in the Germanic society. The amount paid is known as weregild and is considered to be an alternative to the blood revenge. However if, the family members of the deceased refuse to accept money and demand the killing if the murderer, they have their say and the murdered and then killed.

Reasons behind murder:

The reasons behind murdering someone can be numerous and ...