System has failed us: Mother of 2012 Delhi gangrape victim

The mother of the woman, who was fatally gangraped in Delhi on a bus in December 2012, on Monday urged the Supreme Court to “set an example” when it decides on the appeals filed by three convicts against the death penalty in the case.

“It has been six years since the incident took place. Similar incidents are still taking place every day, our system has failed us. Even after so many years, we see cases of brutal rape and murder of young women. This should stop at the earliest,” the mother was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

She added that the Supreme Court, which will pronounce its verdict later in the day, must not reduce the quantum of punishment given to the accused.

“Even a death penalty is less for all the accused. But the court’s verdict must set an example for Indians,” she added.

The victim’s father also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take adequate measures in order to provide safety and security to women in India.

The top court is expected to deliver its judgment at 2pm on the petitions filed by Mukesh, 29, Pawan Gupta, 22, and Vinay Sharma, 23, seeking a reduction of their death sentence to a life term.

The fourth death row convict, 31-year-old Akshay Kumar Singh, has not filed a review petition against its May 5, 2017, order.

The top court had reserved its order on the review petitions filed by the convicts on May 4.

The court in its 2017 verdict had upheld the capital punishment awarded to them by the Delhi High Court and the trial court in the case of gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old paramedic student on December 16, 2012.

She was gang-raped inside a running bus in south Delhi by six men and a boy and severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road. She died on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

One of the accused in the case, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar jail in the national capital.

A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board and released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

(With ANI inputs)