India News | Absolutely Outrageous: Women's Right Activists on Acquittal of Chhawla Gangrape-murder Case Accused
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Women's right activists on Monday criticised the Supreme Court's decision to acquit three men sentenced to death for the gang-rape and murder of a woman in Delhi's Chhawla area, and asserted that this will embolden the accused.
New Delhi, Nov 7 (PTI) Women's right activists on Monday criticised the Supreme Court's decision to acquit three men sentenced to death for the gang-rape and murder of a woman in Delhi's Chhawla area, and asserted that this will embolden the accused.
The three men are accused of abducting, gang-raping and brutally killing the 19-year-old woman in February 2012. Her mutilated body was found three days after she was abducted.
In 2014, a trial court awarded death penalty to the three accused, terming the case "rarest-of-rare". The judgment was later upheld by the Delhi High Court.
Activist Yogita Bhayana was standing outside the Supreme Court with the victim's parents when the verdict was monitoring the proceedings.
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"I am totally overwhelmed. In the morning, we were fully hopeful that the apex court will uphold the capital punishment and we were even mentally prepared that they might convert the death sentence to life imprisonment.
"But when I first heard about the acquittal, I could not believe my ears. There is absolutely no justification for this acquittal. We will go for an appeal," she said.
She said the victim's parents are "speechless and completely shattered".
Social activist Vinod Bachheti, who had been supporting the family for the last 10 years in their fight for justice, said they will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the future course of action.
"We have been supporting the family for the last 10 years. The incident happened on February 9, 2012, and after 10 months, the Nirbhaya gang-rape happened. The (Chhawla) victim was also taking care of her family's expenses.
"Her father works as a security guard and earns Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000. We will decide the next move during a meeting on Tuesday that will see the presence of NGOs and people from the Uttarakhand community. There is a high probability that we will file an appeal against the verdict and even approach the President of India," he said.
Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal highlighted the brutality meted out to the victim and asked will this not boost the morale of the rapists.
"In 2012, a 19-year-old woman was gangraped and murdered in Delhi. The High Court sentenced the culprits of this terrible case to death but was acquitted by the Supreme Court.
"This is the case in which acid was poured in the woman's eyes and a bottle of liquor was inserted in her private parts. Wouldn't this boost the morale of the rapist?" she said.
Ranjana Kumari, director, Centre for Social Research, concurred with Maliwal and said it was 'absolutely outrageous'.
"Of late, we are only getting some kind of approval or silence on brutality against women. It was seen in the case of parole of Ram Rahim and the release of rapists of Bilkis Bano. The Supreme Court judgement is a strong message to the society.
"There are chances that the rapists can be relieved after killing and raping women. What kind of legal framework are women living in. This kind of judgement is going to embolden the rapists and the talk of 'Hang the rapist' is not going to be effective anymore. Women are going to be attacked and brutalised," she opined.
According to the prosecution, the woman worked in Gurugram's Cyber City area and belonged to Uttarakhand. She was returning from her workplace and was near her home when the three men abducted her in a car.
When she didn't return home, her parents lodged a missing person report, the prosecution said, adding that the woman's mutilated and decomposing body was found in a village in Haryana's Rewari.
The police found multiple injuries on the woman's body. Further investigation and autopsy revealed she was attacked with car tools, glass bottles, metal objects, and other weapons. She was also raped, they said.
Police arrested the three men involved in the crime and said one of the accused allegedly took revenge after the woman turned down his proposal.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)