Hours after the execution of the four convicts in the notorious Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, more than seven years after their crime, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Friday, 20 March, said that the convicts' "hanging is a message for every criminal that one day, law will catch up with you."
"I greet this day with aplomb that justice has finally been done to Nirbhaya," Irani was quoted by PTI as saying.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also called for people to take a resolution to not allow another such case.
"It took seven years for justice to be delivered. Today, we have to take a pledge that no incident like this happens again. We have seen how the convicts manipulated the law until recently. There are a lot of loopholes in our system, we need to improve the system," the Delhi CM was quoted as saying by ANI.
(Get live updates on the aftermath of the Nirbhaya convicts' hanging here.)
Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that it was “a day of satisfaction” for him, with Nirbhaya getting justice.
"It is a day of satisfaction that a daughter, who underwent so much pain, has got justice. It's time for judiciary, government and civil society to introspect whether death-row convicts can be allowed to manipulate system and cause delay." Prasad was quoted by PTI as saying.
Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal also hailed the execution as "a victory of the whole country".
The four convicts in the 2012 case – Pawan Kumar Gupta, Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay – were hanged at 5:30 am on Friday after the dismissal of each of their pleas before various courts over the last few weeks.
“It’s a historic day. Nirbhaya got justice after over seven years, her soul must have found peace today. The country has given a strong message to rapists that if you commit this crime, you will be hanged. This is a victory of the whole country.”Swati Maliwal, Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women
Maliwal added that there is now a need to create a strong system to deal with such crimes in the future.
Nirbhaya’s Mother Goes Down in History as an ‘Unstoppable Mother’
National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma said that while an example has been set with the hanging on Friday, it could have been done earlier.
"Hopefully, Nirbhaya will finally rest in peace as she got justice after a long legal battle. The Nirbhaya case showed us loopholes in the legal system, which the four convicts took advantage of... Now people know that they will be punished. You may extend the date, but you will get punished," she added.
Meanwhile, retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and former Delhi Prisons Inspector General (IG) Kiran Bedi took to Twitter to call Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi an "unstoppable mother who fought for ultimate justice for her daughter."
Actor-turned-Congress leader Nagma also gave credit to Nirbhaya's parents who "persisted with their fight against justice (sic) for seven long years", adding that there’s “still a lot to be done”.
Outside Tihar jail, where the four convicts were hanged, many people, including women's rights activist Yogita Bhayana, celebrated and distributed sweets on Friday.
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