‘Nirbhaya Wanted to Live’: Meet the Woman DCP Who Cracked the Case

Chhaya Sharma, former DCP (South District), led the 41-member team that investigated the Nirbhaya case.

Chhaya Sharma, former DCP (South District), led the the 41-member team that investigated the Nirbhaya case.

(Photo: The Quint)

(This was from first published on 12 May, 2017 and has been republished from The Quint's archives to mark the 8th anniversary of the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder.)

“What struck me the most about her was her courage. She had the will to live and had a positive attitude.”

On 16 December 2012, a 23-year-old woman was gangraped in a moving bus in Delhi, later succumbing to her injuries. In the weeks after the gruesome incident, collective outrage engulfed the city – with protests on the streets, and politicians and media demanding justice.

But how did it feel to lead the Delhi Police investigation team into the crime?

Chhaya Sharma, former DCP (South District) of Delhi Police was in-charge of the 41-member team which investigated the Nirbhaya crime. In this conversation, she speaks about how Nirbhaya struck her as courageous, the difficulty in cracking a ‘blind’ case and how Nirbhaya changed the way Delhi Police approached rape cases.