‘The hanging will be a lesson,’ Delhi gang-rape victim’s mother

The victim’s parents said that while the brutal gang rape and death of her daughter brought the entire nation together to demand stricter laws against rapists and making cities safer, it took a long time to get justice.

The mother of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student who was gang raped and fatally injured in a moving bus seven years ago walked out of the courtroom with a smile of satisfaction and relief on Tuesday, when the court set 7am on January 22 as the time for the death sentence to be carried out against four people convicted for her daughter’s murder.

Asha Devi, mother of 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim along with lawyers after a court issued death warrants against the four convicts in the case, outside Patiala House Courts in New Delhi on January 7, 2020. (ANI Photo)

Catching her breath, as if she was not being to able to find the right words, Asha Devi said: “She [her daughter] won today. She had to wait for this verdict for seven years. We have been waiting for this order. I was tired of going in and out of courtrooms in the last one year. Unless you hang these criminals, the daughters of our country will not be safe. Their hanging will serve as a lesson to anyone who even think of harming women.”

Speaking to HT, the victim’s parents said that while the brutal gang rape and death of her daughter brought the entire nation together to demand stricter laws against rapists and making cities safer, it took a long time to get justice.

“Over the last one year, I’d started losing hope. Our case was one which had garnered so much attention, and even then it was taking time. But all that is in the past now. We are thankful to the judicial system and to everyone who stood by us in our fight,” Asha Devi said.

The victim’s father was also elated and said that his daughter’s soul will finally rest in peace on the day her rapists are hanged.

“You cannot escape the wheel of karma. I still remember the day when I got a call from the police calling to tell me that my daughter was in the hospital. Every day since then has been a fight for us,” Badrinath Singh.

“Can you imagine a father’s helplessness, who has seen his daughter in that state and who had to cremate her? We will finally get some closure,” he added.

The family said that January 22 will be a big day for them.

“I don’t know what we will do after the hanging. I never really have got the chance to think what will be the end of this fight. Maybe we will go to a temple and visit an orphanage,” Asha Devi said.