Black Warrant Order Issued For Nirbhaya Rape Case Convicts after 7 years of Inordinate Delay

There was satisfactory news in the Nirbhaya rape case when Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora on 7 January announced the execution of all the four convicts on January 22, 2020, at 7 am.

Pawan, 25, Akshay, 31, Vinay, 26, and Mukesh 32 were sentenced to death for brutally raping a medical student on 16 December 2012.

After justice being served on the seventh anniversary of the incident, the victim and the families of the convicts in the court wept their heart out. The mother of the accused came to Nirbhaya’s mother one last time to forgive her son. In response, she said that she too had a daughter and has been waiting for this decision for the past 7 years.

The other two convicts who are guilty in the case, Ram Singh who was found hanged in his cell, and the other minor, who was released after 3 years of reform, will be surely staying from this execution as they have suffered their share of punishment.

All the four convicts will be hanged together in Tihar Jail. Preparation for execution has been started. Gallows are being tested by hanging dummies, ropes have been ordered. Now the whole country is looking forward to the morning of 22 January, when they will be hanged on the gallows.

Justice was finally delivered after 7 years, and every woman, every person who was fighting against social evil like rape and sexual harassment find a ray of hope.

But the matter doesn’t end here. There still lie some unanswered questions that the judicial agencies and law enforcement institutions need to address.

Did the conviction after 7 years of the incident actually serve the purpose of punishment?

Probably Not!

Do we not need speedier disposal of cases related to sexual offenses in our country?

Definitely Yes!

The proverb, “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied” can be appropriately linked to the present case. Seven years of long delay cannot be justifiable for a brutal offense, like rape and murder and one doesn’t simply know about the time taken to dispose of other rape cases that have not got the media attention and public outcry as Nirbhaya’s case did.

The delay in the disposal of such cases is actually a punishment to the victims and her families itself rather than the convicts. The potential rapists are no more in the fear of the judiciary because of such examples in our country. Making strict laws won’t help in reducing such cases unless we have a stricter implementation and speedier punishment for such crimes.

Seven years after the brutal and horrifying incident when an innocent woman was brutally raped, tortured and murdered, only because six men were not able to control their fantasies, we are still very unsure of the answer to the question;

Do women feel safer in India now?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: This article is written by Swati Dubey, our intern.