Today, on 5 May, the Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court’s awarding of the death penalty to four of the men convicted of raping and torturing a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012. The apex Court described the crime as a “story of a different world”
On 16 December 2012, Jyoti Singh (popularly called Nirbhaya), the 23-year-old paramedic, was raped and brutalised with an iron rod on a moving bus in Delhi. Jyoti fought for days before losing her life in a Singapore hospital on December 29. Three years to the day, her mother revealed her name to the world, saying: “My daughter was Jyoti Singh and I am not ashamed to name her.”
As the SC delivered its judgement, the packed courthouse broke into applause. Jyoti’s parents, amidst tears, said they were happy with the judgement.
“Leave the Supreme Court, even God will not forgive such people. They will be awarded death sentence,” The Times of India reported Nirbhaya’s father as telling reporters before the Supreme Court issued its verdict. Nirbhaya’s mother had said, “Only the death penalty [will do] for the culprits now, it should not be denied … We have full faith in the judicial system and I am sure that the Supreme Court will announce death sentence in its verdict for the guilty. I am sure the Supreme Court will give justice to my daughter. This will set an example for the world.”
My daughter has got justice, Nirbhaya’s mother says after Supreme Court verdict pic.twitter.com/0S8hXha1Xk
— Times of India (@timesofindia) May 5, 2017
The Supreme Court said, “If ever a case called for hanging, this was it … The Nirbhaya rape-cum-murder case is rarest of rare case and we are compelled to give extreme punishment to ensure justice … The accused were obsessed about ravishing her life, she was treated as an object of enjoyment … The brutal, barbaric, and demoniacal conduct of the convicts shook the conscience of humanity and they don’t deserve leniency … The investigations done by Delhi Police was fair and impartial and the probe has passed the test of fairness and reliability … The dying declaration of Nirbhaya is reliable as it was corroborated by medical and other evidences.”
It’s a victory for my family, I am very happy with the judgement: #Nirbhaya’s father says pic.twitter.com/HkOwWv3gQy
— Times of India (@timesofindia) May 5, 2017
Of the six rapists, one of them, Ram Singh, hanged himself in prison, while another, who was a juvenile at the time of the crime, was convicted but served the maximum sentence of three years in a reform home, from where he was released in December 2015.
Read more: This 16 December, Lets Hope There Are No More 16 Decembers
