Fast court gives verdict in last December’s brutal incident in Delhi.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: It took an agonizing nine months and a fast-track court to dish out the final verdict for the four young men convicted of rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a moving bus on December 16th last year. “Death to All”, Judge Yogesh Khanna’s voice rung inside the crowded room no. 304 at the Saket District Court here, on Friday the 13th.
He read out the sentence –“Besides discussing others offences, I straightaway come to section 302 (murder) of Indian penal Code (IPC). This falls under inhuman nature of the convicts and the gravity of offence they committed cannot be tolerated. Death sentence is given to all the four convicts,” he said. “Court cannot turn a blind eye to such a gruesome act,” the judge said, while handing down the maximum punishment.
He said, “When crime against women is rising on day-to-day basis, so, at this point in time court cannot keep its eye shut. There should be exemplary punishment in view of the unparalleled brutality with which the victim was gang-raped and murdered, as the case falls under the rarest of rare category. All be given death. This is a time when serious crime against a woman has come to the fore and now its judiciary’s responsibility to instill confidence among the women.”
The Judge also ordered compensation for victim’s family, that the four men will have to pay a total of Rs. 55,000 each to the victim’s family. The sentence says, “The convicts, namely, convict Akshay Kumar Singh Thakur, convict Mukesh, convict Vinay Sharma and convict Pawan Gupta Kaalu are sentenced to death for offence punishable under section 302 Indian Penal Code. Accordingly, the convicts be hanged by neck till they are dead.
Soon after the sentencing was read out, the Delhi rape victim’s father thanked the police, saying that justice had been done to his daughter and family. “I am very happy, I thank everyone, the public and the media,” he said. The victim’s mother, who was inside the courtroom, told reporters, “Dil ko sukoon mil gaya” (My heart is at peace).
But on the other side of the spectrum, the mood was somber.
“Even God gives people a second chance,” pleaded one of the convict’s mother, during the run up to the sentencing of the four accused. The mother of Vinay Sharma, who was 19 at the time the gang rape and murder were committed, pleaded for mercy for her son.
According to media reporters in the courtroom, there had been no reaction from the convicts when the sentence was read out. However, a Times Now reporter said that this was because the verdict had been read out in English and had not been translated in Hindi. Meanwhile, the defense lawyer for two of the victims, AP Singh, broke down in front of the cameras and alleged political conspiracy.