Nirbhaya Rapists Will be Hanged, Says Supreme Court

After six years of the horrific gangrape of Nirbhaya, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Bhanumathi rejected the review petitions for three of the four convicts in the case and said Nirbhaya’s rapists will be hanged.

Thus, reinforcing that on the day of judgement "You should be held accountable for your actions."

SC rejects the review petitions of convicts in the #Nirbhaya gangrape against their death penalty

Says review only if there is error apparent, miscarriage of justice. Convicts cannot be allowed to re-argue the case in the guise of review of the judgment @the_hindu @abaruah64

— Krishnadas Rajagopal (@kdrajagopal) July 9, 2018

In May last year, the Supreme Court had upheld the decision of the Delhi High Court and the trial court that pronounced capital punishment for the convicts - Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, and Pawan Gupta.

The apex court had decried the "brutal, barbaric and diabolic nature" of the crime that could create a "tsunami of shock" to destroy a civilised society.

The apex court had decried the "brutal, barbaric and diabolic nature" of the crime that could create a "tsunami of shock" to destroy a civilised society.

One of them - the bus driver, Ram Singh committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell in 2013 and the other one was a juvenile who has completed his punishment term of three years in a reform facility. The court released him in 2015.

Another convict Akshay Kumar has not yet filed a review petition against the apex court's May 5, 2017 judgement. However, his counsel Singh said that he will file his review petition also very soon.

The judgement today serves as a reminder to all the offenders of such heinous crime that ultimately justice is served and no one can evade the due process. Jyoti's parents waited six long years for them to avenge their daughter's brutal gangrape and murder.

ANI quoted Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi saying, "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."

The incident took place on the night of 16 December 2012 when Jyoti along with one of her male friends was returning home after watching a movie in the Vasant Kunj area of New Delhi. She was brutally gang raped by six men, including one juvenile in a moving bus. This case brought people across the country out of their homes to protest and march for justice. The then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 and the ruling party promulgated several new laws for crimes against women.