US : First in 7 Decades, death sentence to woman

Washington : For the first time after nearly seven decades in America, a woman is being sentenced to death. The woman was found guilty of murdering a pregnant and taking away her foetus. On the court’s order, she will now be given a death sentence on December 8 with lethal injection.

According to officials, in 2004, Lisa Montgomery arrived at the home of  the 23-year-old Bobby Steinett in Missouri on the pretext of buying a pet dog, carried out the tragic murder. Then the 36-year-old Montgomery first strangled an 8-month-old pregnant Steinett with a rope and after tearing her stomach, she escaped with her foetus.

Montgomery confessed the crime in a Missouri court after being caught, and in 2008 the judge convicted her of kidnapping and murder. However, during the hearing of the case, the lawyers of the convict argued in court that she was ill and the judge rejected it.

After nearly 20 years of stay, the death penalty has been reinstated only 3 months ago in the US. Lisa Montgamery is the 9th federal prisoner to receive the death sentence.

The last time a woman was sentenced to death in 1953 in the US. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 2 percent of the convicts in the United States are awaiting execution. In violent crimes committed by women compared to men, the death penalty is significantly lower.