Supreme Court will finally give a verdict at around 2 pm in the Nirbhaya gang rape case which shocked the country and the world on December 16th, 2012. The case will be up for hearing at the apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Mishra including Justices Ashok Bhushan and R. Banumathi. The original sentence for the accused, Akshay, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh was death. However, as the prisoners challenged the Delhi High Court order, the matter will be taken care of by the Supreme Court.
The heinous crime was committed in the National Capital when a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was beaten, gang-raped and tortured by six men on a private bus. After 11 days, she was taken to Singapore for emergency treatment but died from her injuries two days later. Out of the six criminals, Ram Singh hanged himself while in police custody. The other man, who was a juvenile, was convicted and given a maximum three years imprisonment in a reform house. However, many across the country are shocked that he was set free.
“I predict 2 will have hanging sentence confirmed (Akshay ad Vinay) and 2 will have their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment – Mukesh and Pawan. Let’s see. Whatever happens after the verdict I will release the unedited version of the film with the new evidence which I had left out in order not to prejudice the Supreme Court trial,” said filmmaker Leslee Udwin who directed the “controversial” India’s Daughter documentary.
Justice Dipak Mishra is allegedly sensitive to women’s rights and hence it is expected that the court will not grant relief to the prisoners. Both Nirbhaya’s mother and father have complete trust in the Indian Judiciary and believe that justice will be served for their daughter.
Nearly four and a half years have passed since the brutal incident. If Nirbhaya had been alive, she would have turned 28 this May 10. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will give a just order, and the wrong will be punished.