Supreme Court of India has recently rejected the Review Petition against Death Sentence, filed by 3 convicts of infamous Nirbhaya Rape and Murder Case of 2012. The Apex Court upheld the death sentence awarded by a trial court and confirmed by the Delhi High Court. Nirbhaya was gang-raped inside a running bus on 16 December 2012 in Delhi by 6 persons. She was also severely assaulted and thrown out on the road. Later, she succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 in Singapore.
Noted Singer Soumita Saha has expressed words of applause over Supreme Court’s decision of upholding the death sentences for the convicts.
“I am absolutely delighted to learn that our government has introduced tougher punishments for rapists, including the death penalty for repeat offenders. Tougher punishments have also been introduced for other crimes against women including voyeurism, stalking and acid attacks”, the songbird said in a statement.
Soumita Saha on Nirbhaya
“Inspite of all this, we are far away from bringing justice to all Rape Victims. This can be ascertained from the fact that the Nirbhaya case is the only conviction obtained among the 706 rape cases filed in New Delhi in 2012”, she added.
Soumita, who had in past penned a poem dedicated to Kathua Rape Victim said, “Every woman faces multitude of crimes including eve-teasing, stalking, catcalling and ultimately rape and murder. Sexual harassment in public places as well as inside the home is faced by most women. Nirbhaya represents the soul of every woman in the country. She wasn’t a victim, she was a martyr who led down her life fighting the enemies of a civilized society. She has spurred more women to speak out instead of hiding the crimes committed against them. In order to pay gratitude to the brave martyr, I urge the Government to declare December 29 as Nirbhaya Day”.
“The Nirbhaya Day shall serve a reminder to every woman that sexual crimes can happen anytime, anywhere and by anyone. They need to come forward and speak out. The Day can be used to educate women about various precautionary measures as well as methods of self-defense”, the Ishq Girl said.
Soumita also urged the Government to initiate Nirbhaya Award for those women who have fought sexual crimes bravely. “The Government has a whooping Rs.1000 Crores corpus for Nirbhaya Fund, which has been barely utilized. These Awards should be given away on December 29 every year”, she added.