It¡¯s been seven years since the brutal Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case brought the nation on the streets and shaking our collective consciousness. Nirbhaya¡¯s mother has since been leading the fight for justice, moving door to door. But then, the final date on which the convicts are going to be hanged continues to get delayed as the lawyers representing the convicts have resorted to delay tactics.?
And the outrage hasn¡¯t put a full stop to rape cases or crimes against women either. More and more rape cases continue to surface while the road to justice remains painfully slow for victims.?
Against this backdrop, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that a system needs to be developed to ensure that rape convicts are punished within six months.
His comments came after two men were held guilty of raping a 5-year-old in Delhi in 2013.
"Both accused in the Gudiya rape case were found guilty. It took seven years. We need to correct this system. If we want to ensure that no one misbehaves with our sisters and daughters, we need to develop a system which ensures that accused are punished within six months," Kejriwal said.
Gudiya, a five-year-old girl, was raped and brutalised barely four months after the Nirbhaya case that shocked and horrified the entire nation.
Meanwhile, Asha Devi, the mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim has hit out at senior lawyer Indira Jaising after she suggested that Devi should forgive her daughter's rapists.
"Who is Indira Jaising to give me such a suggestion? The whole country wants the convicts to be executed. Just because of people like her, justice is not done with rape victims," Asha Devi told news agency ANI.
"Cannot believe how Indira Jaising even dared to suggest this. I met her many times over the years in Supreme Court, not even once has she asked for my well being and today she is speaking for the convicts. Such people earn their livelihoods by supporting rapists, hence rape incidents do not stop," she added.
Asha Devi further accused Jaising of using "the garb of human rights" to make a living.
'People like her keep earning money under the garb of human rights. I do not need her suggestions... Just because of people who think like her incidents like rape keep happening, she is a disgrace to women," she said.
This comes at a time when the family of the 2012 gangrape victim has been running from one court to another for the speedy execution of the four death row convicts.