Though happy, Nirbhaya's family says fight will go on

As the Supreme Court dismissed the review petition filed by convicts in the Delhi gang-rape and murder case, the victim's parents on Monday said they were happy that their daughter got justice but said the struggle does not end here.

Asha Devi, the victim's mother, said she hoped that the convicts are hanged soon by ending legal recourses.

Three of the four convicts, Mukesh (29), Pawan Gupta (22) and Vinay Sharma (23), had filed the review petition and can still file a curative petition.

The fourth convict, Akshay Kumar Singh (31), is likely to file a review petition against his death sentence next week. While one of the convicts, Ram Singh, had committed suicide in jail, a sixth one, a juvenile at the time of committing the crime, is out after serving his sentence in a juvenile home.

"Our struggle does not end here. Justice is getting delayed. It is affecting other daughters. I request the judiciary to tighten the system, serve justice to Nirbhaya by hanging them as soon as possible and help other girls and women," she told reporters.

Expressing happiness over the verdict, Asha said she was happy that her daughter got justice. "The fight is still on...They were not juveniles. It is unfortunate that they committed such a crime. This decision reaffirms our trust in the court that we will definitely get justice," she said.

The victim's father Badrinath Singh said they were sure that the review petition will be dismissed. "But what next? So much time has gone by and the threat to women has gone up in this span. I believe sooner they are hanged, the better it is," he said.

The victim's family, through the Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust, has been the face of anti-rape protests in the country in the past six years. When the amendments to make stringent anti-rape laws were hanging in balance, Asha had become the face of protesters and Parliament then passed the legislation.

In its judgement confirming the death sentences, the Supreme Court had on May 5, 2017, said, "the victim possibly could not have imagined that she would be a prey to the savage lust of a gang of six, face brutal assault and become a playful thing that could be tossed around at their wild whim and her private parts would be ruptured to give vent to their pervert sexual appetite, unthinkable and sadistic pleasure".