Victim’s father expressed disappointment and said it should have had a deterrent effect.
Victim’s father expressed disappointment and said it should have had a deterrent effect.
New Delhi:
A debate is raging across the country and in Parliament as the juvenile convicted in the December 16, 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape is all set to walk out a free man on Sunday, as scheduled, after the Delhi high court refused to intervene in the case.
The decks were cleared for the release of the convict, who attained legal adulthood within a year of committing the heinous crime, with the Delhi high court on Friday refusing to intervene, saying he cannot be stopped from walking free under existing provisions of law.
The convict, now 20 years old, is expected to walk out of the reformation home on December 20 at the end of his three-year term in a reform home, unless there is a stay from the Supreme Court.
Brushing aside the public outcry against his release, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath directed the Juvenile Justice Board to interact with the convict, his parents and concerned officials of the Department of Women and Child Development regarding his “rehabilitation and social mainstreaming”.
“Crime has won and we have lost (Jurm jeet gaya, hum haar gaye)” was the immediate reaction of the family of the gangrape victim after the court refused to stay the release of the convict. A dejected Asha Devi, mother of the victim, told reporters: “Despite all our efforts for three years, our government and our courts have released a criminal. The assurance we were given was that we will get justice, but that has not been delivered. We are very disappointed. Although we haven’t seen him, not met him, but despite all our efforts, the criminal will walk free.”
The victim’s father also expressed disappointment over the order and said it should have had a deterrent effect. He indicated that they have no plans to move the Supreme Court for now. “The order must be delivered while keeping in mind that it helps in the betterment of society and acts as a deterrent so that no one can commit such kinds of crimes in future,” he said, adding that the law must be changed.
