Breaking News! In a historic judgement, which marked a new beginning in the battle vs crime against women in India, the District Court in Saket sentenced all four convicted in December 16 Delhi Gangrape case, to death. They will be hanged till death for the heinous crime they committed against a young girl.
While pronouncing the verdict, the court obse
rved that it was a murder, as the internal injuries caused by the convicts were meant to kill the victim. The court also said that the crime shook country’s conscience and the convicts did not deserve any mercy. Justice Yogesh Khanna termed it as a “rarest of rare” case.
In total, there were six accused in this case. One of the, bus driver Ram Singh had committed ‘suicide’ inside the Tihar Jail during the trial, while the juvenile accused was sent to three years in a reform home.
On the fateful night of December 16, 2012, six men allegedly gangraped the 23-year-old physiotherapy trainee and brutally assaulted her male friend. The victim ‘Nirbhaya’ or ‘Jyoti Singh Pandey’ sustained severe internal and external injuries, which led to her death. She fought for life for 17 days before breathing her last at a Singapore hospital.
The incident triggered a national outrage, which forced the government to come up with a strong bill against the crime against women. In addition, women in the country dared to take up the cause without fear and they received full support from others. Despite all these, the rape cases are on the rise and the recent incident of gangrape of a photojournalist in Mumbai has shocked the nation once again.
The four men were found guilty of 13 offences, including gangrape, unnatural sex, murder, dacoity, conspiracy, kidnapping and destruction of evidence. The accused have been identified as Vinay Sharma (20), Pawan (19), Akshay Thakur (28) and Mukesh Singh (26). Mukesh is the brother of Ram Singh.
Defence Lawyer AP Singh has slammed the court, saying the judiciary acted under pressure from the government to appease the public. He challenged the government, saying he won’t appeal in High Court if there is no rape incident in the next two months, as the government and court feel that death sentence would stop the crime against women.
First Reactions on Twitter:
Ehsaan Noorani @EhsaanSEL
Hope this sentencing sends a strong message out to men attempting this ghastly act again ….. #Justice.
Firstpost @firstpostin
Father of Delhi gangrape victim to CNN-IBN on verdict: I’m very happy with verdict. I feel justice has been served.
Firstpost @firstpostin
Mother of Delhi gangrape victim to CNN-IBN: I want to thank the administration, media. My daughter has got justice.
CNN-IBN News @ibnlive
Convict Vinay crying, #DelhiBraveheart’s family thanks the judge , lawyers and police. Prosecutor says they have just done their job.
Firstpost @firstpostin
Lawyer AP Singh says if death sentence stops rapes in India, he will not file an appeal in the high court.
Karan Johar @karanjohar
Death Sentence of the Rapists!!!!! Thank god…there is a god!!! and finally…there is JUSTICE!!!
Naveen Jindal @MPNaveenJindal
Justice has been served. Nirbhaya, we all hope you rest in peace. You have changed India, you are everyone’s daughter.
Faking News @fakingnews
President Pranab Mukherjee has issued anticipatory refusal to mercy petition.
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Taslima Nasreen @taslimanasreen
All four rapists will soon be gone. Misogyny will remain. Bollywood will continue depicting women as sex objects. Men won’t stop raping women.
Shoma Chaudhury @ShomaChaudhury
Life for life imprisonment would have been better than death for the rapists. We need to reduce violence in the world not increase it.
Vikram Chandra @vikramchandra
If verdicts would always come within months of a rape, watch how the number of rapes would go down. Same for other crimes.
Mrs Lindström @MrsLindstroem
What an amazing day! Finally a decision that can make the citizens of this country feel safe, taken care of and proud.
Shobhaa De @DeShobhaa
Big question: Will the rapes stop after the death sentence is executed? And what will be the time frame for that?
faridahtakia @takiafaridah
A big big thank you to all the people the men and women who came out on the streets to protest against this case.
Neha Dhupia @NehaDhupia
Not in India, jus heard about the death penalty for all 4 rapists. Finally feel that not everything is wrong with the system!
Farhan Azmi @abufarhanazmi
Jai ho!! Lets celebrate the groundbreaking judgement..Let every man know that if he violates a Woman’s dignity, respect…HE DIES!!
CNN-IBN News @ibnlive
All accused started crying once the order was announced.
Ashwin Mushran @ashwinmushran
Amidst all of this, one has to remember that the death sentence is for murder and not Rape. There will still be a long road ahead for change.
Rajdeep Sardesai @sardesairajdeep
Death penalty expected; but do we really believe it will deter potential rapists in the future? What do you think?
Harsha Bhogle @bhogleharsha
hopefully the death sentences will deter other beasts. it was “rarest of rare” and “ghastliest of ghastly”.
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