2012 Delhi gangrape case: SC upholds death for four killers of Nirbhaya

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentences of four men convicted for the brutal gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in Delhi in 2012, describing the crime as “a story of a different world” that sparked a “tsunami of shock”.

The court used words such as “gruesome”, “gross”, “sadistic” and “beastly” in its 429-page, hard-hitting order, referred to the dying declaration of the victim and said the “brutal and demonic” crime had been proven beyond doubt. “If ever a case called for hanging, this was it,” said the court, calling for concerted efforts to prevent such crimes.

The woman, who later came to be known by an outraged nation as “Nirbhaya” or fearless, was raped on a moving bus and left for dead near the airport by a gang of five men and a teenager. She had boarded the private bus while going home from a movie with a male friend, who was also wounded, on December 16, 2012. Also brutalised with an iron rod, she died of grievous internal injuries in a Singapore hospital 13 days later.

Applause broke out in the courtroom and many stood up in appreciation when the verdict was delivered. “I am very satisfied. Today I am happy,” said the victim’s mother, who wept silently in the court. The victim’s father said: “I will finally sleep well tonight. It’s not just a victory for my family, it’s a victory for each and every woman in our country.” “Our daughter now rests in peace,” the couple told PTI.

Signalling closure for the sensational case, the court mentioned that the convicts ruptured the victim’s private parts with an iron rod to give vent to their “perverted sexual appetite” and “unthinkable and sadistic pleasure”, which was corroborated by medical evidence, oral testimony and the dying declaration.

The brutality of the attack, and her determination to survive long enough to identify her attackers, triggered large-scale angry street protests, forcing the government to enact stricter laws for sex crimes.

The four men — Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh — were not in the court on Friday. A.P. Singh, a lawyer representing three of them, said justice had not been done and vowed to file a review petition.

The last recourse of the convicts would be to seek clemency from President Pranab Mukherjee.

A fifth man, the suspected ringleader, was found dead in jail in a suspected suicide in 2013, while the 17-year-old was sentenced to three years in a  detention centre and has since been released.

A three-judge bench of Justices Dipak Misra, R. Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan gave its verdict while rejecting the appeals filed by the four convicts, all in their 20s now, seeking that the death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. A fast-track court had in 2014 awarded them the death sentence, which was upheld a year later by the Delhi high court.

The court said the devilish manner in which the convicts played with the victim’s dignity was humanly inconceivable. “It sounds like a story from a different world where humanity has been treated with irreverence,” the court said.

The Nirbhaya case is one of the fastest trials, culminating in a death sentence, to be completed in the top court. By sending the accused to the gallows, the court has sent a strong message to the society, and has also instilled confidence in the minds of the people.

“At times I would feel weak, wanting to give up the fight. But then my daughter’s face would flash in front of my eyes and I would pull myself up,” the victim’s mother said.

“She would have turned 28 on May 10 if she had lived. Today’s verdict is a gift for her,” the father said.

The court also lauded the Delhi police for completing the investigation scientifically and in a professional manner to bring the culprits to book.

Reacting to the verdict, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was a victory of the rule of law. Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi said that the verdict would act as a deterrent against heinous crimes.