Delay in closure unfortunate: Rights activists

Human rights activists rued the delay in closure of the Nirbhaya case as unfortunate and said such holdups rob victims' families of the feeling of justice, even though many of them advocated abolition of death penalty.

A death warrant for hanging the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-andmurder case will not be issued by a city court for now as it gave a week's time on Wednesday to know whether they are filing mercy petitions, hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the last review plea against the capital punishment.

Social activist Ranjana Kumari said such inordinate delay has resulted in more and more women being targeted and justice should have been delivered faster, especially in such cases. Responding to a question if death penalty is the solution, she said the law of land should prevail. "Maximum punishment should be given in case of rape and murder but if that punishment is death penalty or not, is a matter of huge debate," she said.

Shabnam Hashmi, founding member of ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy), said she was strongly against death penalty. "Returning violence with violence cannot be considered justice. The maximum punishments must be rigourous life imprisonment," she said.

On the delay in issuing of death warrants of convicts, Hashmi said if a case involving Kashmir can be delayed, then any case can be delayed.

Annie Raja, women activist and general secretary of National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), said the judicial process is becoming a "tamasha" because of lengthy trials.

"I insist on surety and severity of punishments, which do not mean just death penalty. It includes judicial reforms, legal reforms, getting more forensic laboratories and more resources. Without all these systems, there is no point of setting fast-track courts," she said.