The Supreme Court on Friday, May 5, upheld the earlier court order of death sentence to the four convicts of Nirbhaya gangrape case. The top court ruling on convicts' plea was set to decide whether the four perpetrators arrested for the crime would be sentenced to death, or given mercy.
The SC said: "taking the serious injuries, the severe nature of offence committed by the convicts, we are upholding the sentence."
"Aggravating circumstance of act outweighs mitigating circumstances of convicts," the top court added. Justice Bhanumati on the occasion quoted Swami Vivekanand to say how tradition should enrich society with knowledge and understanding to ensure justice for women.
A trial court in 2013 had ruled that all the convicts should be hanged to death and the high court had upheld the sentence, However, the four perpetrators - Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh - challenged the court's decision in the apex court. The gangrape convicts appealed before the Supreme Court against the ruling of their death sentences.
"Justice not done, we will file review petition after reading the order," AP Singh, Lawyer of the convicts said.
Nearly five years ago, a 23-year-old medical student was brutally gangraped and tortured on a moving bus in Delhi, while she was on her way home after watching a movie with a friend. She later succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore, and was named Nirbhaya by the media for her courage.
"It's a victory for my family, I am very happy with the judgement," Nirbhaya's father told ANI.
Nirbhaya, who was gangraped by six men in a moving bus, was tortured with an iron rod, which pulled out her intestines. The crime was so heinous that several protests broke out in the country, with many marching in Delhi and clashing with the police. All of them demanded justice for Nirbhaya and safety for women in the country.
Out of the six convicts, Ram Singh, the driver of the bus, was found hanging in his cell in Tihar jail in March 2013, a few months before they were convicted. Reports state that another convict, Vinay Sharma, also reportedly attempted to commit suicide last August.
The sixth convict in the case, who was just months short of turning 18 years of age, walked out of a correction home in December 2015 after spending three years.
