Unaware about the date of the Delhi High Court verdict in their daughter's case, parents of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim were taken by surprise after their lawyer called them in the morning and informed them that the verdict was likely to be announced later on Thursday.
The surprise then turned into a ‘pleasant’ surprise after the court upheld the death sentence of the four accused. “The verdict has come as a pleasant surprise for my family because we had no idea that the judgment is due for today. I got a call from the lawyer in the morning, who informed me about it,” the victim’s father said outside the Delhi High Court.
With a smile of satisfaction on her face, the mother of the 23-year-old girl said: “We have full faith in the judicial system of our country. We had expected this verdict. But we will get ultimate satisfaction only when the convicts meet their ultimate fate.”
“ Hume pura nyaya tabhi milega jab sab faansi par latkaye jaege (We will get full justice only when all of them will be hanged),” she said.
Talking about the issue of women’s safety, she added that the new Government which is formed after the Lok Sabha polls should pay utmost attention to the issue of women’s safety.
“I lost my daughter to a brutal crime but I do not want other mothers to feel my agony. There is a need for substantial improvement in women’s security,” she said.
Members of the ‘December 16 Kranti’ group--that has been protesting for justice for the victim ever since the case came to fore--were also present outside the High Court. Wearing black head-bands carried placards that read: “We don’t need your empty promises, we need safety”.
They also demanded that the juvenile be hanged. “Justice has been delivered to the family but this is just partial justice. Until the juvenile is hanged justice will be incomplete. He was the most brutal of all the criminals, he should be hanged,” said Rukmini, one of the protesters outside the court.
The trial court had on September 13, last year awarded capital punishment to the four, saying they be “hanged till death” as the “beastly” and “hair-raising” manner in which the crime was committed against the girl fell in the rarest of the rare category.
