Everyone should know her as Jyoti Singh: Delhi gangrape victim’s mother
Asha Devi said she was not ashamed and did not want her daughter’s identity to stay hidden, even as various news agencies continued to refer to her as Nirbhaya.
The mother of the 23-year-old who was tortured and gangraped in Delhi on December 16, 2012, on Wednesday said it was time the world called her by her real name, Jyoti Singh. Even as various news agencies re-christened her after the assault, Asha Devi said she was not ashamed to name her child. Three years since the incident, seen as a watershed moment in the conversation about rape in India, Devi was addressing a public meeting in Delhi.
“Whoever has suffered should not hide their name. It is the offenders who should be ashamed and hide their name. I want to tell everyone that my daughter's name was Jyoti Singh. From today, everyone should know her as Jyoti Singh, she said.
She also spoke on the juvenile convicted in the case, who is to be released in a few days. "On her third anniversary, the culprit is being set free. Where is the justice is in that?" The question of his release has been fraught with debate, as he was considered the most brutal of the attackers, but was 17 at the time. He was convicted and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment under the Juvenile Justice Act.