We Asked Rahul to Support Our Children & He Did: Nirbhaya’s Mother

Nirbhaya’s mother tells The Quint about Rahul Gandhi, Nirbhaya’s childhood, and her family’s fight for justice.

Asha Devi, Nirbhaya’s mother, talks about Rahul Gandhi’s role in their son becoming a pilot.

(Photo: The Quint/Vishnu Gopinath)

Asha Devi, the mother of Nirbhaya, has thanked Rahul Gandhi for helping Nirbhaya's brother become a pilot. In an interview with The Quint, Asha Devi talks about how Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi helped her son graduate from Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi in Raebareli. Raebareli is Sonia Gandhi's home constituency.

She goes on to tell The Quint about how Nirbhaya grew up, how close she was to her 2 younger brothers, and how the family’s hunt for justice still hasn’t borne fruit.

She adds that Rahul Gandhi met them after the incident, and stayed in touch through the years, offering help to the grieving family.

16 December 2017 will mark five years since the gangrape of Nirbhaya. The incident that shook the country, and the subsequent investigation, revealed details of a crime so horrific that India would amend its penal code to adequately punish the sort of mind-numbing violence inflicted on the 23-year-old medical student.

Asha Devi adds that the family only wants justice for their daughter. The four rapists who are still confined in jail (minus Ram Singh, who died in Police custody, and the juvenile, who was released after 3 years in a reform facility), were sentenced to death in May 2017. Their death sentence still hasn’t been carried out and they continue to languish in Tihar jail.

Also Read: How Many Nirbhayas? Rape Cases in Delhi Have Tripled Since 2011

The Delhi Commission for Women has now written to the Tihar jail administration and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Delhi questioning them about the delay.

There's an old adage that says, "Justice delayed is justice denied."

Nirbhaya's family feels the sting of denied justice with each passing day, as her rapists continue living despite a death sentence on their heads.

Also Read: “Waiting for Years”: Post Nirbhaya, 3 Rape Survivors’ Raw Accounts

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