The youngest of the six men who gang-raped Jyoti Singh was yesterday shifted from reform home to an undisclosed location.
The youngest of the six men convicted for raping and torturing a medical student on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012 is set to be released today from a correctional home. Late last night, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea against his release on Monday, but declined to give it an urgent hearing or stay the discharge.
In a last-ditch attempt to stall the scheduled release, Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the
High Court's Friday order that refused to restrain the release of the juvenile convict and appealed for an urgent hearing. The petition was reviewed around 1.30 am by a two-member vacation bench who scheduled the hearing for December 21.
The mother of Nirbhaya, whose real name is Jyoti Singh, has said the women's panel move was "just a pretense" and added that the government "has failed us". "They (women's panel) acted too late and only after we protested. It was just a pretense to show they are with us,"
Asha Devi told NDTV.
Yesterday, Jyoti's parents and a group of around 40 students protested outside the reform home where the convict was kept but they were asked to move out by the police. This evening, they will lead a protest at India Gate.
Ms Maliwal has said they moved the court late in the night after consulting their legal team. "It's really sad if Jyoti's mother feels this was a pretense. I did everything in my capacity. The fact that the court has decided to hear us first thing on Monday is a win for us," she said. She also said the panel hopes the government and the Delhi Police will not release the convict till the matter is sub judice.
The convict, now 20, was just a few months short of 18 when he and five others attacked Jyoti Singh on the night of December 16, 2012. Yesterday, he was shifted from the reform home to an undisclosed location yesterday due to "security concerns", sources said. After his release, he is likely to be monitored by the Juvenile Justice Board.