The 2012 Delhi gang rape case involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012. After this rape brutality incident Munirka, a neighborhood in South Delhi was in total shock. Rape, murder, kidnapping, robbery, assaults, which happened in 16 December 2012 and continued for few more years were of deep concern. On December 2015, during BJP government, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2015 was passed by the Rajya Sabha.
Rape in Bus
However a heinous criminal incident took place when a 23-year-old female Jyoti Singh Pandey was beaten and gang-raped. She was tortured and raped in a private bus in which she was travelling with her friend, Awindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend.
Eleven days after the assault, she was shifted to a hospital in Singapore. In Singapore she was under emergency treatment but she succumbed to heavy injuries two days later.
Nirbhaya Rape Condemned
The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned across the world. However various protests took place in major cities throughout the country. Meanwhile, Indian law does not allow the press to publish a rape victim’s name. So the victim has become widely known as Nirbhaya meaning “fearless”. Her struggle and death have become a symbol of women’s resistance to rape in the world.[
Following deep investigation, all the accused were arrested and charged with sexual crime and murder. One of the accused, Ram Singh, died in police custody on a possible suicide later on March 11, 2013 in the Tihar Jail.
Accused Ram Singh did Suicide or killed?
According to the reliable sources, the police declared Ram Singh hanged himself. However, his defense lawyers and his family alleged that he was murdered. The juvenile, who was convicted of rape and murder was given the maximum sentence of three year imprisonment in a reformed facility. This wasn’t needed the then, he should also be hanged even though he was a Juvenile.
On September 10, 2013, the four remaining adult defendants were found guilty of rape and murder. They were three days later hanged to death.
Critics argue that the legal system remains slow to hear and prosecute rape cases. In anyway most of them agree that the case has resulted with public discussion of crimes against women. Here, statistics show that there has been an improvement in the number of women willing to file a crime report.
Awareness of Rape as Biggest Crime
After two years of the attack, the victim’s father called the promises of reform as disgusting. He said that he felt deep regret in which he was unable to bring justice for his daughter. In 2019, the father of the so called Nirbhaya and the relatives still feel lot of pain remembering her. It could have been better if the Indian law had been harsh as still every year such incidents do happen. There’s lot of pain as in India the rape cases are increasing instead of diminishing by social awareness and education. The education to the people of India should be given such that they feel guilty to even tease a woman. If the media starts a campaign of educating men about the freedom to women, and about women safety then it’s better.
Requirement to eliminate Rape from India
What is required today in India is the safety of women and the aggression of the government to protect women. Moreover, it’s a shame that men belonging to any cast and religion do not think women as a soft human being. They should extend their help towards protection of women, which will brighten India. Such heinous crimes against women hurts the educated people of India. And the rape and torture of Nirbhaya will never be forgotten.
Khalid M Raza
