E-Paper
2012 Delhi gang rape convicts hanged: Who said what
The hanging was carried after a three-judge Supreme Court bench rejected the final plea by the convicts’ lawyer AP Singh to stay their execution in a late-night hearing on Thursday.
The mother of the 23-year-old woman, who was gang-raped and fatally assaulted in December 2012, said her daughter has finally got justice after the four men convicted for the crime were executed as officials of women’s panels pointed their hanging will send a message to the country.
The four men—Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma—were hanged simultaneously inside Tihar Jail number 3 at 5:30am for the gang-rape and murder of the woman inside a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012.
The young paramedical student died at a hospital in Singapore on December 29.
The four convicts were hanged to death at 5:30am in Delhi’s Tihar Jail today bringing the curtains down on the drama surrounding the execution that saw the death warrants cancelled thrice on various grounds over the last two-and-a-half months.
Sandeep Goel, DGP (prisons), confirmed that all the four were hanged at 5:30am.
The hanging was carried after a three-judge Supreme Court bench rejected the final plea by the convicts’ lawyer AP Singh to stay their execution in a late-night hearing on Thursday.
Here’s what they said after the Delhi 2012 gang-rape and murder case convicts were hanged:
Asha Devi, the woman’s mother
“Finally, the convicts have been hanged. This was a struggle of eight years. It was delayed but we got justice. Today, Nirbhaya got justice and girls of the country got justice. I want to thank everyone - the judiciary, the government, every citizen - for this,” she said while speaking to reporters after the hanging.
This will be a message for the entire country, she said. “Girls will now feel safer. After the execution, families will start teaching their sons and use the hanging as an example,” she said.
Badrinath Singh, the woman’s father
“Our wait for justice was painful and agonising… We appeal for observing this day as Nirbhaya ‘Nyay Diwas’ (day of justice),” he said.
Rekha Sharma, chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW)
“An example has been set today but it could have been done earlier. Now people know that they will be punished, you may extend the date but you will get punished,” Sharma said, according to news agency ANI.
Swati Maliwal, chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW)
“It’s a historic day. Nirbhaya got justice after over seven years, her soul must have found peace today,” Maliwal was quoted as saying by ANI.
“Country has given a strong message to rapists that if you commit this crime you will be hanged,” she said.
