Nirbhaya RIP
By Vijaya Pushkarna
Why has Asha Devi, the gutsy mother of Nirbhaya, lost
faith in the judiciary in exactly 10 days?
On Jan 7, after a Delhi court
issued death warrants for the rapists of her daughter Nirbhaya—the fearless one—Asha was happy that she had won a 7-year long battle for justice , she said it was victory for all women. She acknowledged there was delay, that she would have
liked it fast-tracked, but reposed her faith in the judiciary.
Nirbhaya was gangraped and left to die in Dec 2012. The brutality of it, the sadistic pleasure of a juvenile among the six rapists numbed the nation. Like Asha, many Indians wanted the harshest of punishment for them. One rapist committed suicide in the jail. One was a juvenile, whose punishment under laws __ rehabilitation__ governing the juvenile, angered many.
Nirbhaya was gangraped and left to die in Dec 2012. The brutality of it, the sadistic pleasure of a juvenile among the six rapists numbed the nation. Like Asha, many Indians wanted the harshest of punishment for them. One rapist committed suicide in the jail. One was a juvenile, whose punishment under laws __ rehabilitation__ governing the juvenile, angered many.
Saturday, Asha Devi was on many television channels, at once sad and angry.She tried to reach out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “You came to power in 2014 promising safety
of women, so please hang them on Jan 22”, the mother said, quoting Modi’s slogans of that year, and pointing to the powers he enjoyed.
The mother has been
doing the rounds of the courts all these years, and had become conversant with
the laws governing rape and the legal
processes involved. She could not have
missed the point that three of the four rapists had not exhausted all the legal
options before them, when warrants for death at 7 am of Jan 22, were inked. So
, however dejected she may have been when one of them filed a mercy petition
and so got their date with the noose
deferred to 6 am of Feb 1, she could not have lost faith in the system that has
given her justice.
But two things thereafter could have ripped apart any mother in Asha's shoes.
First, the
possibility of further delays in the execution. There is constant spat
between the Bharatiya Janata Party and
the Aam Aadmi Party over the hanging of
the rapists, in poll bound Delhi . The BJP asserts that had it not been for the
AAP, they could have been executed two years ago. The AAP maintains that the Lt
Governor, who is a Central government appointee, was sitting on files and not allowing the elected government
to function fully. The Delhi police is under the Home Ministry. In the wordy
duel all over the capital and on television, Asha Devi cannot be faulted for
her fears of further delay. More so, because two of the rapists still have
legal options!
The second was a tweet
by senior lawyer Indira Jainsing. “While I fully identify with the pain
of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave
Nalini and said she didn’t want the death penalty for her. We are with you but
against death penalty”, she said.
The angry mother retorted as only an angry mother can. “Who
is Indira Jaising and why is she making an appeal to me to forgive rapists? She
is making money on human rights’ ground. I don’t need her suggestions”, and the
world of the little sparrow was abuzz with whether Asha needs to behave like
Sonia Gandhi, whether Jaising would do that is she had beenin Asha’s place and
so on—a totally involved conversation that would take the mother, Jaising or
the case nowhere!!
Jaising’s suggestion
must have torn apart the mother whose idea of justice for the most brutal rapists
in modern times was nothing short of their execution. But politicians making
the case, in any manner, an issue in their campaign, are only adding to assault
on Nirbhaya .
The battle for Delhi is no less than the battle for India,
for scores of reasons. If it had not been for the elections, Asha's trauma could have been a wee bit less. But surely, there are enough election issues , if we
take off the Nirbhaya rapists’ executions.
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