All four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case were hanged till death today (March 20, Friday). Minutes before the hanging of the four convicts in the brutal gangrape case of her daughter, Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi on Friday said, today's dawn will be a new dawn for daughters of India. "We all have waited so long for this day. And, today's dawn will be new dawn as my daughter will get justice. It will also be a new dawn for daughters of India," Asha Devi said.
Post the hanging of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi expressed satisfaction and thanked the judiciary for granting justice to her daughter. "Justice delayed, but not denied," was what Asha Devi was heard saying.
"We finally got justice," she said.
Commenting on the Supreme Court order that dismissed the petitions filed by the convicts, Nirbhaya's mother said, "As soon as I returned from Supreme Court, I hugged the picture of my daughter and said today you got justice".
"Finally they have been hanged, it was a long struggle. Today we got justice, this day is dedicated to the daughters of the country. I thank the judiciary and government," Asha Devi said.
"Our daughter is no more and won't return. We started this fight after she left us, this struggle was for her but we will continue this fight in the future for our daughters. I hugged my daughter's picture and said finally you got justice," Nirbhaya's mother was quoted as saying.
Further, Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi said, "We will request Supreme Court to issue guidelines so that no one can adopt delaying tactics in such cases in future,"
Commenting on the execution of all four convicts, Nirbhaya's father said, "Our wait for justice was painful and agonising."
"We appeal for observing this day as Nirbhaya 'Nyay Diwas' (day of justice)," Nirbhaya's father said.
Nirbhaya Killers Hanged
The four men -- Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31), convicted for the gang rape and murder of a Delhi woman on December 16, 2012 were hanged at 5.30 am on Friday, ending a horrific chapter in India's long history of sexual assault that had seared the nation's soul.
The savage assault in an empty moving bus on the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who came to be known the world over as Nirbhaya, the fearless one, had brought the whole nation on to the streets, demanding justice for the victim.
This is the first time that four men have been hanged together in Tihar Jail, South Asia's largest prison complex that houses more than 16,000 inmates.
The executions were carried out after the men exhausted every possible legal avenue to escape the gallows. Their desperate attempts only postponed the inevitable by less than two months after the first date of execution was set for January 22.
They were hanged at 5.30 am, Director General of Prison Sandeep Goel said.
After raping and brutalising the woman, the men, one of whom was a juvenile at the time, dumped her on the road and left for dead on the cold winter night. Her friend who was with her was also severely beaten and thrown out along with her. She was so severely violated that her insides were spilling out when she was taken to hospital. She died in a Singapore hospital after battling for her life for a fortnight.
Six people, including the four convicts and the juvenile, were named as accused.
While Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case, the juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.
The road to the gallows was a long and circuitous one, going through the lower courts, the High Court, the Supreme Court and the president's office before going back to the Supreme Court that heard and rejected various curative petitions.
The death warrants were deferred by a court thrice on the grounds that the convicts had not exhausted all their legal remedies and that the mercy petition of one or the other was before the president.
On March 5, a trial court issued fresh death warrants for March 20 at 5.30 am as the final date for the execution.
Also Read | NIRBHAYA GETS JUSTICE: ALL FOUR CONVICTS HANGED TILL DEATH
Also Read | From bus to gallows: A timeline of events in Nirbhaya case
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