Delhi gangrape: Victim’s parents ready to take their fight nationwide
Protesting with the support of hundreds against the Supreme Court’s decision to release the juvenile offender, they demanded the death penalty for all four convicts in the case.
While the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the Delhi Commission for Women’s petition was met with criticism from both media and public, the parents of Jyoti Singh, the victim of the heinous Delhi gangrape-murder, have vowed to take their cause nationwide, PTI reported. “We will take our battle for justice across India to awaken governments and lawmakers,” Asha Devi, the mother of the December 16, 2012, gangrape victim, said.
Hundreds of youths and activists gathered at Jantar Mantar for the third consecutive day to support Asha Devi and her husband Badri Singh’s demand for death penalty for the four convicted rapists who are lodged in Tihar Jail currently. “Despite our repeated pleas and demands for not setting the juvenile free, he has been released. We are dejected, shattered. But we will not stop and continue our fight to ensure that the other four rapists are hanged.”
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the plea filed by DCW Chief Swati Maliwal. The petition, which challenged the release of the juvenile offender in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, was filed at midnight on Sunday. The apex court ruled that it could not extend his term without any legislative sanction. The now 20-year-old convict, who was released on Sunday, remained in the care of an NGO while awaiting the verdict on the plea. Asha Devi had said she was “not surprised” by the Supreme Court’s decision.
Amid the public outrage at the convict’s release, an NGO that works to protect men’s rights in India said on Monday that the juvenile convict deserved a second chance and that the Juvenile Justice Bill should be scrapped. “If the common understanding is that a juvenile has matured enough to distinguish between a crime and a noble act, the voting rights and marriageable age should also be brought down to 16. If not, the Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill deserves to be scrapped prima facie,” Amit Gupta, president of NGO Hridaya, told PTI. He added that they are ready to support his education for five years.