Justice denied

The heart-wrenching 2012 Nirbhaya rape case verdict is getting delayed to eternity. It has been seven years since the horrifying incident shook the entire country. The poor parents of the 23-year-old physiotherapist are running from pillar to post of the courtrooms, but unfortunately yet to see the killers to be hanged. Nothing less than the death penalty is what the entire country demands, but the delay in court procedures in giving the final verdict is simply frustrating. The popular saying ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is very much applicable in the Nirbhaya case. I being a laywoman don’t know the intricacies of the judiciary system, but through your esteemed daily, I want to say that when the evidence and witnesses are directly pointing criminal charges against those culprits, then what is forcing our judicial system from executing the verdict i.e. death penalty.

Nirbhaya died 11 days after the incident in Singapore but her parents are dying after seeing those monsters still breathing. If judgment to such a high-profile case takes so much time, then one can imagine the plight of many Nirbhayas who are confined within the files of the courts. Government has coined the slogan ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, but the fact is ‘Agar Beti Bachegi Nahi Toh Padhegi Kaise’. I believe such delays in executing the verdict in a straight forward case doesn’t act as a deterrent, rather makes such criminals believe that through loopholes they can escape.

Aparna S Chowdhury,

GNB ROAD, Guwahati.