New Delhi: “The loss we suffered can never be compensated but death penalty to perpetrators is something that satisfies us,” said Asha Devi, Nirbhaya’s mother, while coming out of Supreme Court.
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for four convicts in the gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012. “I remember her every day. Since the minute she left me, I have been fighting with the system, courts, government and myself too,” she said.
“Even after five years of the incident, I have never lost hope. There was a time when I felt alone but on the next day I again got up, gathered all my strength to fight for my daughter. She must be happy today, as I know she is watching me” Ms Asha Devi said of her daughter.
“We thank all those who supported us through the difficult times. Although we lost our daughter, we are satisfied that the court has awarded death sentence to her perpetrators,” she said. From now on, she and her husband will fight for justice for other girls against whom criminal acts are committed, Ms Asha Devi said while coming out of the court room.
The doctors and policemen who attended Nirbhaya said she was a fearless and bold girl. She was undergoing a number of surgeries and medications since her admission in the hospital, but she recorded her statement to police and judicial magistrate.
“It is a landmark investigation that was completed in just 18 days of the incident. In the first 18 hours of the incident, all of the accused were identified and three of them were arrested. More than 100 policemen worked round the clock to crack the case. The police collected unimpeachable scientific evidence to prove the case,” said Chhaya Sharma, a senior police official, who was DCP (South) during December 2012.
The arrest of the juvenile and Akshay required massive manhunt because Akshay escaped to a village in Naxalite belt in Jharkhand. “A team of Delhi police stayed in a Naxal area for two days and survived on sattu,” said Ms Sharma.
