Uttarakhand Chief Minister Assures Justice To 2012 Rape-Murder Victim

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday assured that the 2012 Chhawla rape victim will get justice.

"I have spoken to advocate Charu Khanna, who is handling the case and union law minister Kiren Rijiju regarding the Supreme Court's decision of acquitting the three accused in 2012- Chhawla rape case. The victim is the daughter of our country and we will do everything to ensure that she gets justice," Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a conversation with ANI.

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the Delhi High Court order and acquitted three men who were awarded the death penalty by a lower court after being held guilty of raping and killing a 19-year-old woman in Delhi's Chhawala area in 2012.

A bench of Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi set aside the judgments and orders of conviction and sentence passed by the trial court and the High Court in the case.

The court gave the accused a benefit of the doubt and directed to set free the accused forthwith if not required in any other case.

"...the judgments and orders of conviction and sentence passed by the trial court and the High Court are set aside. The Appellants-accused are acquitted from the charges leveled against them by giving them a benefit of doubt, and they are directed to be set free forthwith if not required in any other case. The appeals deserve to be allowed accordingly," the court had said.

However, the court also directed that the parents of the victim would be entitled to the compensation, if not awarded so far by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority, as may be permissible in accordance with law.

Three men had moved the top court against capital punishment for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Delhi's Chhawala.

The three convicts were awarded the death penalty after being held guilty of raping and killing a 19-year-old woman in 2012. The victim's mutilated body was found in a field with multiple injuries due to assault with objects ranging from car tools to earthen pots.

A Delhi court in February 2014 convicted them. The capital punishment was confirmed by the Delhi High Court on August 26, 2014, saying they were "predators" moving on the streets and "were looking for prey".

Three men, Ravi Kumar, Rahul and Vinod were convicted under various charges dealing with kidnapping, rape and murder.

The three convicts had challenged the Delhi High Court order in the Supreme Court.

The case dates back to February 2012, when a 19-year old girl's body was found in Haryana. The girl was brutally killed after being raped.

A case was registered regarding this at outer Delhi's Chhawala (Najafgarh) police station.

According to the prosecution, the offence was barbaric in nature as they first kidnapped the woman, raped her, killed her and dumped her body in a field in Rodhai village in Haryana's Rewari district.

"The woman was kidnapped by the three men in a car from near her house in the Qutub Vihar area on the night of February 9, 2012, while she was returning from office," the prosecution had said.

The prosecution had also revealed multiple injuries on the woman's head and other parts of her body and said that the three men had assaulted the woman with a car jack and an earthen pot. The crime was committed by Ravi Kumar with the help of the other two accused as the girl has refused the friendship proposal of Ravi Kumar, the prosecution had alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)