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Three years on, the parents of December 16 Delhi gangrape victim Nirbhaya continue their fight for justice.
Now, with the looming release of one of the rapists, who was
a juvenile when the crime was committed and thus remanded to a juvenile home, Nirbhaya’s
parents are demanding his identity be revealed to the world.
Tears rolling down her face, Nirbhaya’s mother talks of the time spent next to daughter’s bed at the ICU of Delhi’s Safdurjung Hospital; she speaks of Nirbhaya’s struggled to live. She talks of everybody claiming her daughter as India’s daughter and pride.
Yet the government is set to release the perpetrator a day before Nirbhaya’s third death anniversary.
The Quint had earlier reported that the rapist has no remorse for his crime and that the juvenile home failed to reform him.
Nirbhaya’s mother fears an attack on her and her family once he is released.
As Nirbhaya’s parents have become symbol of justice, many families of rape victims have approached them for help. But they feel that nothing has changed in the last three years; instead the number of minor rape victims has increased.
While the soon-to-be-released rapist served his sentence at a juvenile home, a year and a half ago the Supreme Court stayed the death penalty verdict against the other four men convicted of the crime. Since then, the matter has not come up for a single hearing.
Nirbhaya’s parents say justice delay is justice denied.
Nirbhaya’s father had even appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the release of the juvenile rapist. But even though Modi assured him that things would fall into place, nothing has changed so far. The angry parents have also said it is unfortunate that Maneka Gandhi, the Minister of Women and Child Development, is showing her helplessness. Gandhi had earlier stated that the juvenile rapist must be released, but will be tried in an adult court if he commits another crime.
Despite these setbacks, Nirbhaya’s parents say that they will continue their protest against the release of the rapist.
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