'We are satisfied that finally my daughter got justice after seven years. The beasts have been hanged.'
"I couldn't save her, but when they were hanged, I felt peace, because they paid for what they did to my daughter."
– Asha Devi, whose daughter, Jyoti Singh was gangraped on 16 December 2012 in Southwest Delhi
Asha Devi (left), the
mother of the 23-year-old student who was raped and murdered in 2012, makes a
V-for-victory sign and celebrates with her sister today as her daughter's
killers were executed more than seven years later “The only place you can
put a criminal and make sure they never commit another crime is in the ground.” [PHOTO SOURCE: https://imgflip.com/i/5g9qzc]
The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South West Delhi. The incident took place when Jyoti Singh, a 22-year-old physiotherapy intern, was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in a private bus in which she was travelling with her male friend, Awindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend. She was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for treatment and transferred to Singapore eleven days after the assault, where she succumbed to her injuries 2 days later. The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned, both in India and abroad. Subsequently, public protests against the state and central governments for failing to provide adequate security for women took place in New Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country. Since Indian law does not allow the press to publish a rape victim's name, the victim was widely known as Nirbhaya, meaning "fearless", and her struggle and death became a symbol of women's resistance to rape around the world.
All the accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused, Ram Singh, died in police custody from possible suicide on 11 March 2013. According to some published reports, the police say Ram Singh hanged himself, but the defence lawyers and his family allege he was murdered. The rest of the accused went on trial in a fast-track court; the prosecution finished presenting its evidence on 8 July 2013. On 10 September 2013, the four adult defendants – Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Mukesh Singh (Ram Singh's brother) – were found guilty of rape and murder and three days later were sentenced to death. In the death reference case and hearing appeals on 13 March 2014, Delhi High Court upheld the guilty verdict and the death sentences. On 18 December 2019, the Supreme Court of India rejected the final appeals of the condemned perpetrators of the attack. The four adult convicts were executed by hanging on 20 March 2020. The juvenile Mohammed Afroz was convicted of rape and murder and given the maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment in a reform facility, as per the Juvenile Justice Act.
Read more on the case here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Delhi_gang_rape_and_murder
Four men are executed
over the 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi that
shocked the world [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/164305410295882/posts/5464597586933278/
…. ….
Ten years after her daughter’s rape and murder and two years after the four rapist were executed by hanging, Asha Devi, the mother of Jyoti Singh that the death penalty had helped her to move on. She felt justice was served. She is now an activist and a campaigner for women's safety, fighting for justice first for her own daughter and now for "all of India's daughters".
We, the members of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, support her and other raped and murder victims’ families. We agree that she does care for the victims’ families and we respect her. We rather support her than Helen Prejean and her cronies.
Anti-Death Penalty Activists can name victims’ families who did not feel happy years later even after watching their loved ones’ killers getting put to death. But for us, the members of Unit 1012 (some of us were former death penalty opponents), we can use Asha Devi and many others, as example of how victims’ families can be satisfied that justice had been served when they look back.
We are so sorry for your loss, Asha but we are thankful that you got justice served. We understand that five of the rapists are now gone from the earth, you never need to envision them breathing at all. We are grateful to Asha Devi as a testimony that the death penalty does serve as justice, even two decades later.
A woman
holds up a sign with ‘Too many terrorists in prison’ written on one side and
‘Kill them all’ written on the other during a rally in Tel Aviv on April 19,
2016 to support Elor Azaria. (Photo: Jack Guez/AFP)
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://mondoweiss.net/2017/08/israelis-palestinian-attackers/
….. ….. http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-group-of-50-families-in-israel-for.html]
Please read these articles to hear from Asha Devi:
As Ashok Gehlot Nirbhaya case remark sparks outrage, aide cites ‘data’
Published on Aug 08, 2022 06:43 AM IST
Ashok Gehlot was criticising the centre when he spoke of a law on death penalty to rape convicts. The comment sparked huge criticism
HT News Desk | Edited by Swati Bhasin, New Delhi
After Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s remark on death penalties and rape cases - while speaking of the December 16, 2012 gangrape case - drew huge criticism, his aide on Sunday shared data to back up the statement. Alleging that Gehlot’s comment was “distorted” by the “BJP IT cell”, Shashikant Sharma, OSD (officer on special duty) to the chief minister, cited a report to back up the Congress leader’s remark.
At an event last week, Gehlot was sharpening his attack on the central government when he also spoke about rape cases. “Crime cases are on an upward trend in the country and in the state, whether communal or otherwise.”
“Ever since death penalty was introduced after the Nirbhaya incident, there has been a surge in killings of the victims. The accused, trying to eliminate witness and evidence in the case, kills the victim after the sexual assault. There has been a surge in such cases in the country, I have seen,” Gehlot can be heard saying in a video that has been widely shared on social media. The Nirbhaya incident -gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedic student in a moving bus on December 16, 2012 in Delhi - had led to massive outrage and calls for stricter laws in cases of sexual assault. Four convicts in the case were hanged to death in March 2020 after an arduous legal battle by the family.
In a tweet, Sharma on Sunday shared the Rajasthan chief minister’s video and wrote in Hindi: "Ashok Gehlot ji had given a statement on rising unemployment, inflation and increasing crimes, which has been presented in a distorted manner by the BJP IT cell. The truth is in this video of the Chief Minister's statement.”
Sharing a newspaper report, he further said that similar observations have been previously made by cops. “Data backs up this unfortunate trend,” Sharma said amid the outrage.
On Sunday, Gehlot also stood by his remark. . “I only spoke the truth. Whenever a rapist rapes a child, they then kill them for the fear of being identified… So many deaths have never happened before,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The clip shared by Sharma was also earlier posted on Twitter by Delhi Commission of Women’s Swati Maliwal who had lashed out at the Rajasthan chief minister. “ We struggled a lot to bring the death penalty law. The job of politician is to ensure women’s safety. He should not speak the language of rapists.”
Among others who had hit out at the Congress leader were union minister Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. "In the last three years, Rajasthan has become the centre for atrocities against young innocent girls. Nothing can be more unfortunate that the issue is being twisted by making controversial statements to hide their failures," said Shekhawat.
Deputy leader of opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Rajendra Rathore said Gehlot’s statement is "unfortunate and shameful".
Asha Devi, mother of the student who waged the Nirbhaya case battle, also said the comment was uncalled for. “Even, before the provision came, girls were murdered. This shows their (CM Gehlot) mentality of supporting culprits while they don't have sympathy for victims. The law isn't bad, people's mentality is. He must apologise and should give his resignation,” she told ANI.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/as-ashok-gehlot-remark-on-rapes-nirbhaya-case-sparks-outrage-a-clarification-101659920990371.html
Ten years ago, Jyoti
Singh (pictured) was on the way home from the cinema when she was dragged to
the back of a bus in New Delhi and gang-raped by six men in a case that sent
shockwaves through India [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11353131/On-tenth-anniversary-gang-rape-shocked-world-India-faces-daily-barbaric-sex-crimes.html]
While speaking to the Republic World, Nirbhaya’s mother said, “This is a very shameful statement. And it is a very sad thing that he is the chief minister of a state and making such statements at this age. I don’t know how these people become a minister. All I would say is that he should free all the rapists at least in his state and include them in his party and build a vote bank out of them. Because there are so many girls and women in the country who are struggling and are not getting any justice. Minor girls are raped and killed. And at that time he is saying that capital punishment causes an increase in the number of murder incidents. What does it mean? Does he mean that let the girls be raped and killed? And what about the culprits? They should be spared? I think he wants to say that, a rapist should be set free.”
She further said, “I consider myself lucky that the current government helped us. I thank this government from the bottom of my heart because we got justice in their tenure. Looking at the statement given by this leader, I don’t think we would get any justice had there been a Congress government in the centre. He should apologize to all the women in the country.”
On the other hand, Ashok Gehlot has continued to be firm on what he has said. He reiterated his statement on 7th August 2022 that capital punishment for rape is the reason for increasing crimes of rape with murder. He said, “I only said the truth. Whenever a rapist rapes a child, they then kill them for the fear of being identified & then taking action against them. So many deaths have never happened before.”
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.opindia.com/2022/08/nirbhayas-mother-slams-ashok-gehlot-for-his-comments-on-rape-murder/
Nirbhaya's Mother Slams Ashok Gehlot's Remark on Rape Cases; 'Shocking Statement Coming From A CM'
Aug 7, 2022
Nirbhaya's Mother Slams Ashok Gehlot's Remark on Rape Cases; 'Shocking Statement Coming From A CM'
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo-V7CEI4JM
RUMBLE VIDEO:
BITCHUTE VIDEO:
VKontakte Video:
Asha Devi celebrated with her neighbours after her daughter's rapists were hanged on 20 March 2020 in Delhi
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-63968198]
Nirbhaya case: The rape victim’s mum fighting for India’s daughters
15 December 2022
By Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Delhi
On this day 10 years ago, a young woman was gang-raped and brutally assaulted on a bus in the Indian capital, Delhi. She died a few days later from her injuries.
As she lay in a hospital bed, fighting for her life, the press named her Nirbhaya - the fearless one. Since rape victims can't be named under Indian law, the name stuck.
The assault made global headlines, led to weeks of protests and forced India to introduce stringent new laws for crimes against women.
The main accused, the bus driver, was found dead inside the jail a few months after the crime. Four others were hanged in March 2020 while a juvenile convict was released after three years - the maximum punishment allowed under law.
The crime changed the way Indians discussed gender violence and altered many lives - none more than that of Asha Devi, Nirbhaya's mother.
A quiet housewife who'd spent her years looking after her home and children has, over the past decade, transformed into an activist and a campaigner for women's safety, fighting for justice first for her own daughter and now for "all of India's daughters".
Revenge is a dish that
is best served cold. I eat a lot of ice cream. – Punisher Meme [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10218867027865515&set=gm.3356674094577859&idorvanity=1908604352718181]
Two years ago - on the 8th anniversary of the attack on her daughter and a few months after the hangings - she pledged to "fight for justice for all rape victims".
"This way, I'll be able to pay tribute to my daughter," she said.
Despite a crippling leg pain that requires daily visits to a physiotherapist, the 56-year-old has been leading a small group of people on a candle-light march in Delhi's Dwarka district every evening for the past five weeks.
They are demanding justice for a 19-year-old woman who was gang raped and murdered 10 years ago. Three men who were given the death penalty for the crime were recently let off by India's top court which said there was no clinching evidence that the men were guilty.
A review petition has been filed in the top court, but Asha Devi and others have been holding protests to ensure the "Chhawla rape case is not forgotten".
"Some days 10 people turn out, some days there are 15, but we march every single day," Asha Devi told me when I visited her home recently.
"We want the court order to be reversed. They [the alleged rapists] must go back to jail."
The day after the Supreme Court order, Asha Devi went to meet the victim's parents.
"I got justice and I don't have to go out and do anything anymore, but I remember how I used to sit outside the courtroom and cry, sometimes alone. I think that should never happen to anyone else. So I went and sat with her parents and wept with them," she says.
She recently also lent her support to an online petition calling for justice for Bilkis Bano after 11 men convicted for raping her and murdering several of her family members were prematurely freed by the Gujarat government.
A trust Asha Devi set up in her daughter's name to help rape survivors and advise victims of domestic violence has retired judges, lawyers, police officials and activists as volunteers. Over the past few years, they have worked with dozens of families.
Her presence often spurs police and authorities into action, but Asha Devi says that 10 years after her daughter died, nothing has changed on the ground.
Those who allow violent
criminals the opportunity to kill, maim and rape, share the responsibility for
it and the tragedy such crimes produce. More, they allow these monsters to
create for all of us a world as dark and evil as their own. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/3wrd9cs77z9g/1269/those-who-allow-violent-criminals-the-opportunity-to-kill]
In 2012, the year Nirbhaya was attacked, India recorded 24,923 rape cases. In 2021, the last year for which crime data is available, the number had risen to 31,677.
"Laws are made on paper, promises are made, but there's poor implementation," says Asha Devi. "If this continues, it will take away our faith in justice."
Asha Devi's activism is rooted in her own experiences, her own lengthy battle with justice and the pain of a mother who lost her daughter to brutality.
Ten years on, the memories of that Sunday still bring tears to her eyes.
"No one should have to see a day like 16 December," she says.
Her 23-year-old daughter had just completed her training as a physiotherapist; she had been interviewed at a couple of hospitals and was accepted at one for an internship.
"She had already received an ID card from the hospital and was to start on Monday or Tuesday. She told me, 'Ma, your daughter is a doctor now.' She was thrilled."
On Sunday afternoon, when she left home, she'd promised her mother she'd be back in two-three hours.
When Asha Devi saw her several hours later, she was in hospital, bloodied and mauled. Describing her daughter's injuries, she had told a TV channel "it seemed as if she had been rescued from a jungle. The doctor said he was unable to understand what to do, what to fix and what to mend".
The young woman was gang-raped by the bus driver and five other men; her male friend was badly beaten up. Naked and bloodied, the couple were thrown by the roadside to die. They were taken to hospital after some passers-by found them and called the police.
"What happened to her was so brutal that she shouldn't have survived," says Asha Devi, "but she lived for 12 days. They named her Nirbhaya, she truly was brave."
The "biggest regret" of her life", she says, wiping her tears, is that while her daughter was alive, "she kept begging for water, but we couldn't give her a spoon of water".
"I kept thinking, what was my daughter's fault? Why did she have to die so painfully? I saw her hurting and I drew strength from her pain. I promised her I'll fight for justice for her. I only wanted the men who did this to her to be punished."
As the trial started, Asha Devi became an unmissable presence in the courtroom.
"I did not miss one single court hearing, ignored home, but if there was a hearing, I had to attend," she says.
Despite the attention on the crime, it took more than seven years for the case to conclude and the rapists to be hanged.
Asha Devi says it took her all her resolve to not give up.
She grew up in a backward district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and "had to drop out of school after the eighth standard because the high school was too far from home", and had to work hard to understand the language of law and learn how to give press conferences.
But the raw agony of the grieving mother, often captured by TV cameras, moved many Indians and drew lawyers, activists, celebrities and politicians of all hues to lend support to her. Protests were held across India demanding the death penalty for the rapists.
But once the death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court in September 2017, the convicts' families and their lawyers began last-minute attempts to stay the hangings by filing review petitions and writing to the authorities for clemency.
Campaigners also pointed out that studies globally had shown that death penalty doesn't reduce crimes - it actually results in more killings as perpetrators try to remove evidence.
Daredevil: “The people
you murder deserve another chance.” Punisher: “What, to kill
again? Rape again? Is that what you want?” [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2667849220138297&set=gm.228121111948318&idorvanity=177872590306504]
But Asha Devi, a huge votary of capital punishment, insists that it was justified.
"There are people who talk about the human rights of the accused, but what about the human rights of the girl who is raped and brutally murdered? Until people feel fear nothing is going to change," she told me.
As the case meandered through the Indian judicial system, Asha Devi says sometimes people told her "your daughter has left the world, give up, you're banging your head against a stone".
"But I got tremendous support from society. And that made me think that they don't know my daughter but if they are standing by her, so must I."
Asha Devi says she "did feel afraid sometimes", but kept her faith.
"I used to think that if these men were not hanged, then who would? What would make a rarest of the rare case for the death penalty?
The case went through several twists and turns before the convicts were hanged at 5:30am on 20 March 2020.
"I couldn't save her, but when they were hanged, I felt peace, because they paid for what they did to my daughter," she told me.
If the criminal taking of a human life does not merit forfeiture of
one's own life, then what value have we placed on the life taken? - Pat
Buchanan [PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/5hvg8xggccvn/1318/if-the-criminal-taking-of-a-human-life-does-not-merit] Article: http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2015/11/scalia-v-pope-whos-right-on-death.html
Shruti Singh, a gender rights activist who was working with Asha Devi for almost a year then, described the night of the hanging.
"We didn't wait outside the prison where the hangings were taking place. We went home to be with Nirbhaya."
They sat in the room where her photo hangs on the wall.
"Now we are able to show you our face, we didn't let you down," Asha Devi told her daughter.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-63968198
The victim's parents
Badrinath Singh (left) and Asha Devi (centre) celebrated what they said was
justice for their daughter's murder today
RELATED LINKS:
DCW cautions Rajasthan CM about his use of words, tells him to stop using language of rapists
Rape victim’s family wants killers hanged
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=401883785075128&id=100057605302283
https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/01/01/2013/rape-victims-family-wants-killers-hanged
MEET INDIA’S HANGMAN, PAWAN KUMAR
http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2020/01/meet-indias-hangman-pawan-kumar.html
MEET INDIA’S HANGMAN, PAWAN KUMAR PART 2
CHIEF JUSTICE S.A BOBDE WON THE RAYNER GODDARD ACT OF COURAGE AWARD [JANUARY 23, 2020]
http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2020/01/chief-justice-sa-bobde-won-rayner.html
Nirbhaya 10 years on: The lives the Delhi gang rape changed
https://vk.com/wall-184585082_745
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-63817388
OTHER LINKS:
SASI KRISHNA SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE MURDER OF NALLAPU RAMYA (APRIL 29, 2022)
https://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2022/04/sasi-krishna-sentenced-to-death-for.html
PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=352677546965229&set=pb.100066689583173.-2207520000..&type=3
"It is necessary that rapists get strict punishment. We are going to send a letter to the Centre to make necessary amendments to award capital punishment to rapists." - Yogi Adityanath
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