On 16 December 2012, Nirbhaya was brutally raped and murdered by four men. The anger and hatred which followed the grave incident shook the entire nation.
Wed Jun 22 2022 | Employment, Criminal and Labour | Comments (0)
December 16th, 2012 marks a Black day in the History of India. At night, when people return home from Dinner or a Late-Night Movie or even from Office, they are reminded of the young 23 year old paramedic student who was brutally gang raped and murdered by 4 men in a moving bus.
This incident opened the eyes of the masses and questions started appearing, is Delhi really safe for women at night? Expert opinions started pouring in from all corners of the nation and questions arose, what was the cause for such brutality and inhumanness? Was the girl at fault for travelling at night? What should women do in such situations? But amongst all the questions arose a fury within the common populace and the people started baying for blood.
No mercy remained for the 'Monsters in Human Skin'. Within 24 hours, six suspects were arrested which included the bus driver and his brother and four others one of whom was a juvenile.
On 28th January, the Juvenile Justice Board charged and convicted the juvenile of rape and murder and sentenced him to 3 years of imprisonment in a reform facility. The bus driver was found hanging in his prison cell and it is unclear whether it was a suicide or murder.
The remaining four convicts were held in prison and charges against them were formed. These charges include:
A Special Fast Track court was set up in Delhi to handle the case and on September 10th, 2013 the Court found all four of the accused to be guilty of all charges and awarded them with Death Penalty.
"Death to all," additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna said while delivering the verdict in the Delhi gang-rape case that had evoked nationwide outrage and led the government to bring in a stringent anti-rape law.
"Besides discussing other offences, I straightaway come to section 302 (murder) of IPC. This falls under inhuman nature of the convicts and the gravity of offence they committed cannot be tolerated. Death sentence is given to all the four convicts," he said.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna believed the offence committed by the four accused falls under the “rarest of the rare” cases warranting Capital Punishment.
This judgment of the Special Court may come as a relief to the victim's family as Justice has once again prevailed and a precedent has been set which may act as a deterrent to those who may be foolish enough to think about committing such heinous crimes again.
Only time will tell if people learn from this case and the Nation becomes a safer place for women.
