“It is a barbaric incident,” the court said in its order.
The Supreme Court of India on Friday upheld the death sentence for four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.
Supreme Court was hearing an appeal filed by the convicts Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh, challenging the Delhi High Courts March 2014 confirmation of the death penalty declared by a trial court in 2013, ANI reported.
“Taking the serious injuries, the severe nature of offence committed by the convicts, we are upholding the sentence,” the news agency quoted Supreme Court’s verdict.
“It is a barbaric incident,” the court said in its order.
Justice Bhanumati quoted Swami Vivekananda on how should tradition enrich society with knowledge and understanding to ensure justice for women.
There should be systematic education of children to ensure how they will give respect to women, Justice Bhanumati said.
Nirbhaya’s father Badri Singh expressed his gratitude to the Supreme Court and told ANI that it’s a victory of his family. I’m very happy with the judgement, he said.
AP Singh, lawyer of the convicts, told media that we can’t hang someone as a message to society.
“Human rights have been slaughtered today,” he said, adding that they will file a review petition after reading the order as the justice is not done.
The 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Singh, remembered as Nirbhaya, was gruesomely beaten, gang-raped and tortured in a moving bus in New Delhi by Ram Singh, a juvenile, and the four convicts on December 16, 2012. Nirbhaya was returning from a movie with a friend. She succumbed to her injuries at a Singapore hospital 13 days later.
The prime accused, Ram Singh, was found dead in his cell in Tihar Jail in March, 2013. The juvenile, just months short of 18, was convicted on August 31, 2013 and sentenced by the Juvenile Justice Board to a maximum of three years in a reformation home. He walked out of the reformation home in December 2015.