Dejected parents say fight will continue
SHOCK Parents of the December 16 gang rape victim say their fight is for justice to daughters of all the country
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the petition filed by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to stay the release of the youngest offender of the December 16 gang rape, shattering the final ray of hope of justice for the victim’s parents.
Clad in a red sari, with a thin black sweater and her shawl carelessly draped around her shoulder, the victim’s mother walked towards Jantar Mantar after the court’s verdict, with a worn out and tired look on her face.
“My fight was not only to get justice for my daughter but it was to ensure that no other daughter in this country has to face such a fate and no other man can get away with such a brutal act because of his age,” she told HT.
She, along with her husband and her son stood surrounded by a massive crowd of angry supporters who had come to show their support for the family and disapproval for the convict’s release. He was a juvenile when he along with four others raped the 23-year-old physiotherapy student on December 16,2012.
“To be very honest we had little hope from the Supreme Court and that is the reason we did not go to court in the morning. We had filed an appeal there last year requesting them to order an amendment to the juvenile justice act, so that accused criminals are tried on the basis of the nature of their crime. Our appeal was rejected then. We didn’t expect anything now either,” said the dejected father.
He also said that he had aged overtly in the last three years, mainly because of running from pillar to post for getting justice for his daughter. He said his daughter would press him and his wife to look good and dress well but with her death their desire to live has died.
“This was an incident whose brutality shook the entire nation and brought people to the streets. If this is also not enough for the government to change the existing law then I don’t know what will. I don’t understand the government’s strategy,” the mother said.
She said that when the incident had happened, Delhi’s chief minister had tied a black band on his forehead and joined the protest and blamed the government for inaction but now when he is in power he has nothing to say or do for them.
“A primary agenda which this government pitched before coming to power was women’s safety then why won’t they say anything now,” she asked.
The parents also said that the protests will continue till the government passes a strong law so that no one can get away with a crime on the basis of their age.