The other four men were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in May last year (File)
The Supreme Court today upheld the death sentence of the four men, convicted for the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student in 2012 in the national capital. The court pronounced its judgement in the presence of the victim's parents. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan delivered the judgement on the review petition of Mukesh, 29, Pawan Gupta, 22 and Vinay Sharma, 23. The fourth death row convict, Akshay Kumar Singh, 31, had not filed a review petition against the Supreme Court's judgement in May last year.
The paramedic student was gang-raped and assaulted in a moving bus by six men on December 16, 2012. A male friend accompanying her was also beaten up. The woman died later, causing nation-wide outrage. While one of the men died in jail, another was tried by a juvenile justice board and was released after he served his three-year sentence. The other four men were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in May last year.
Here are the live updates:
Rekha Sharma, Chairman of the National Commission For Women, said the judgement proved justice can be delayed but cannot be denied. "It's a landmark decision. This judgement shows that law takes its own course in this country," she told news agency ANI.
Rohan Mahajan, the lawyer of the parents of the 2012 Delhi gang rape victim, said that the faith in the judiciary was reinstated after the verdict. He requested the central government to expedite the hanging of the convicts.
Nirbhaya's mother said that their struggle didn't end there. She said that the justice was being delayed, which was affecting other daughters of the society. "I request judiciary to tighten their judicial system, serve justice to Nirbhaya by hanging them as soon as possible and help other girls and women," she said.
"They were not juveniles. It is unfortunate that they committed such crime. This decision reaffirms our trust in the court that we will definitely get justice," Nirbhaya's mother said.
Nirbhaya's father says," We knew that review petition will be dismissed. But what next? So much time has gone by and threat to women has gone up in this span. I believe sooner they're hanged, better it is".
AP Singh, the lawyer of the convicts, said that injustice had been meted out to the petitioners. He told news agency ANI that the sentence was upheld due to the public and political pressure.
The Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty to four convicts who gang-raped and murdered a 23-year-old paramedic student in Delhi in 2012.
The judgement is currently being read out in the Supreme Court.
Nirbhaya's parents are in the Supreme Court. The court is expected to pronounce the judgement shortly.
"It has been 6 years since the incident. Similar incidents are still taking place everyday. Our system has failed us. We are confident that the judgement will be in our favour and we will get justice," says mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim.
On the day when the Supreme Court is expected to announce judgement on the review petition of three out of four convicts, Nirbhaya's father has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take concrete steps to end atrocities towards women and young girls.