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‘Will rapes magically end now?’ — Families of 16 December convicts blame media trial

After the 4 convicts were hanged Friday morning, their bodies were then taken to DDU Hospital for post-mortem. Two bodies reached Ravidas Camp in the afternoon.

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New Delhi: As celebrations erupted outside Tihar jail after the four convicts of the 16 December Delhi gang rape and murder case were executed early Friday, wails rose through Delhi’s Ravidas Camp as two bodies arrived in the afternoon.

Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Thakur (31) — the four convicted in the 2012 case — were hanged at 5.30 am, seven years after the crime and more than two months since the original date of their death warrants.

Families of three convicts — Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay — live in Ravidas Camp, while Akshay’s family is in Bihar.

The bodies of Vinay and Pawan reached Ravidas Camp at 2.20 pm. At the time of publishing this report, it was not known where the other two bodies were taken to.

“What has this achieved? Will rapes magically end now?” asked Pawan’s elder sister, who didn’t want to be named. “For one life, she (Asha Devi, mother of the gang-rape victim) has taken away five. That should weigh on her conscience.”

In a lane outside the Ravidas Camp, a big carpet was laid out for the women of the respective families to collectively grieve. 

Before the execution, the families scarcely interacted with one another despite living only a few feet away. On Friday, they came together for the first time to share their grief.

“We didn’t see any use for it before. There was still some hope that they would survive, and every family coped on their own,” said Pawan’s younger sister, who refused to be identified.

“Only we (the four families) know what this feels like. We gave up so much and hoped so hard, begged for mercy, only to get back a dead body.”


Also read: Day before 2012 gangrape convicts’ hanging, disbelief and despair at their Ravidas Camp homes


‘Country bayed for the blood of our sons’

The families of Vinay and Pawan said they didn’t sleep throughout Thursday night. Mukesh Singh’s elderly mother, Ram Bai, was consoled by neighbours as she cried throughout the night. 

All three families told ThePrint that they wanted nothing but to be left alone.

“What more can we say or do? The country bayed for the blood of our sons. And now they’re gone. Two of my sons are dead and I have no one left,” said Ram Bai. Her other son and co-accused in the case, Ram Singh, had committed suicide in Tihar jail soon after the trial began in 2013. 

“We want to be left alone, please leave us alone,” added Ram Bai.

A reporter was even beaten and driven out of the locality when he tried to take photographs of the bodies.

Waiting for the bodies, Pawan’s mother once lost consciousness and was force-fed water. She had refused to speak since the hanging. 

“Why do they hang just the sons? They might as well hang the parents, too. By simply looking at her, you can’t tell if she’s dead or alive,” said Pawan’s elder sister, pointing to her mother.

‘Media trial’

The gang rape case became one of the most prominent cases of gender crimes. 

But these families see the deaths of their sons as nothing short of a travesty. 

“This was a media trial from the start. The mainstream media and politicians milked this case and now our boys were killed for it. They are dead and that’s irreversible. The spotlight was always on her, and the case grew and grew till our sons became monsters, and we the parents of monsters,” said Hiralal Gupta, Pawan’s father. 

“What will you do taking pictures of us crying and writing about it? If our son is dead, it’s by the hands of the media,” said Ram Bai.

Vinay’s mother, who was hoping for a miracle, said there’s nothing to look forward to now.

After the convicts were hanged simultaneously, the bodies were taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital at 8.30 am for post-mortem. The family members of all four convicts waited outside the hospital to take the bodies with them.

The hospital, which was barricaded, saw heavy presence of police and CRPF personnel, who had been there since 4 am. Just outside the barricades, a huge crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the bodies and the convicts’ family members.

(With inputs from Revathi Krishnan)


Also read: ‘Don’t want to be rapist’s widow’: Wife of 16 December gangrape convict seeks divorce


 

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28 COMMENTS

  1. Bloody selfish family thinking only of this 4 monsters lives but what they got this is not enough how pain they given to nirbhaya
    Pawans sister has given a clarity about girls character being a girl what an maturity she learnt from her family
    Killing 4 lives about 1 girl is
    Questioning girl behaviour reveals her original character about her and his brother

  2. Why so much of sympathy for these evils? They got away with much lighter punishment compared to what they did with that girl. However I like idea of killing their parents too. Hanging only criminals will certainly not stop crime but if somehow we can kill their family members too, it might help. They beat up reporter also & that speaks volumes about these basterds. Being poor doesn’t mean you are Saint. No sympathy with these f***rs whatsoever. Find people who beat reported & teach them lesson too.

    • You are such an evil person. R u a saint ? Have u never done anything wrong ? I pray for u …may God heal ur evil mind .

      • Nobody in the world is a Saint here. When there are mistakes committed by god then there are no expectations for a human to be 100% defect-free. Everyone in the world did commit mistakes in their life. But it can never be equal to a Sin that can never be rectified. It’s good to pray to God for healing them, us for our so-called evil minds. But it wouldn’t be much dangerous than these people who live with pride without having any regret and blaming the life of the victim. I think they need more prayers to cure their immoral values. And holding patience within us is the hardest aspect we all have. As you couldn’t hold your anger and questioned him reading his comment, the same way he couldn’t hold his frustration looking at the above caption. He and we all are not Saints, but only a group of frustrated citizens blaming our destiny for being born to a society that has failed to protect the woman of our country, and living in a hope where every parent would be much happier and relieved throughout their life when they are blessed with a girl.

  3. The idiotic poser: ‘Will the crime stop magically if criminals are punished’ needs zero attention from any sane person with common sense.
    All those indulging in arguments and counter arguments on this subject are simply “Intellectual Masterbaters “. Period.

  4. Justice done at last. But what about Jigisha Ghosh and journalist Saumya Vishwanathan murderers ? What’s happening in that case ? What about communal murderers ? We all tacitly support our community murderers in such situations. No one is holier than others.

  5. Nirbhaya will never get justice, because she was borne in a society which does not differentiate between revange and justice and is celebrating revenge as if it has achieved its aim. She had really got justice, if the women of this country would have felt much safer after the horrible incident. She would have got justice, had the attitude of men towards women would have seen some change. Mere revenge does not stop or even reduce crime because the perpetrators of crime commit it under a savage state of mind which is unable to comprehend their own act. Mind change is only remedy.

  6. I find the hanging of these individuals grotesque & inhuman. All the people look at the crime these individuals committed & think that state is justified in extracting due revenge . I look at these individuals ,of tender age , uneducated , impoverished & they made a Terrible mistake . These individuals should have been treated kindly by an imperfect state , punished but allowed to repent. The state should not be the final arbiter ,that honor is reserved for nature , a state that cannot guarantee a decent life and has no way of guaranteeing that ,has no right to be the final arbiter.

    • Poverty can not be an excuse to insert an iron rod inside the vegina of a helpless girla and pulling her internal organs out. These people were real monsters. People like you are responsible behind such guys. Shame on you.

    • Not just him, only the persons who can dare to tear their intestines have the right to speak against death penalty. A person can earn sympathy if he/she is helpless, but not respect. I don’t have sympathy for those monsters, but I respect her and her family more than anyone in my life.

    • I could not agree more . We do not have the right to judge or take a life . They should have been given a second chance in life …why did her mother let her out that late at night …I hope she blames herself for the rest of her life . She broke 4 other mothers because she herself failed as one. May their souls RIP .

      • Even I could not agree more on the view. We don’t have any right to judge someone’s character and take their life. They should have let her go and had given her another chance to live that night by sparing her from their hunger of lust. When a girl was raped and murdered in a broad daylight inside her own home, then how much safer can we feel when we leave outside? And finally the killer Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed after 14 years when a minor girl Hetal Parekh was raped and killed. Anyone would blame themselves and feel regretted after knowing that our little effort could have saved a life. Was it she who broke those 4 mothers who had failed to give a proper upbringing to their sons, or those rapists who never thought that even she was a woman like his mother or sister, and she had a family as they do? How would their souls rest in peace after executing such a heinous crime and crossing the limit of brutality? How can they get salvation after ending an innocents life and marking a stigma as a rapist family to their near ones? Nirbhaya’s mother would never blame herself since she is the best mother anyone can get in the whole world. She never failed as a mother as she fought 7 years facing all the struggles and crossing the hurdles to get justice for her daughter. And why the term reforming is always applicable to the convicts but not to the victims? The right concept behind their hanging is “Balance Of Terror”. I like the concept of reformation of men who commit these crimes and save the dignity of their families. But I will apply this with all the men I know before they do or try to commit the crimes, as there would be amendment over them and the upcoming victims may survive. There is a strong difference between feminism and egalitarianism as fighting for her doesn’t make me a feminist. IF YOU CAN’T TAKE HER AS A RESPONSIBILITY, ATLEAST DONT TAKE HER AS AN OPPORTUNITY……

      • So because her mother let her out at night it was Ok for her to be raped? Is that what you are trying to imply? Its suprising How people are feeling bad for convicts who are guilty of what they had done. They well deserved this.

  7. Hanging is done not to prevent future rapes. It is simply delivery of justice to the victim. Only Leftists feel that hanging should not be done. All other normal people believe hanging is the right thing to do for rapists and murderers.

  8. While agreeing that a report should not be biased, the “heartless” statements by the family members give an impression that the reporter SIMRIN SIRUR is partial towards them. They should have actually grieved shamefully for the absolute heinous crimes that their sons carried out and still lived for seven long years. SIMRIN SIRUR should have at least held back Hiralal Gupta, Pawan’s father. ‘s statement about Nirbhaya’s mother. It looks like Sirur agrees with him. One must be careful while reporting such issues. March 20,2020 will be remembered as Justice Day.

    • Very well said my dear friend Pratibha….. There’s is never an excuse for an HEINOUS CRIME LIKE THIS…..

      Infact one bast***d is still roaming free….. Law says , he is a minor but I don’t agree to it…. If he’s minor , how come his actions are of a RAPIST NATURE?????

      I too feel bad but JUSTICE NEEDS TO BE DELIVERED NO MATTER WHAT……

      Though justice has been very late but I hope, from now on. ….. It’ll be faster.

      God Bless our Motherly Nation called Bharat / India / Hindustan & our Motherly Planet called Earth…..

  9. I don’t know if there would be a sudden miracle where rapes and atrocities towards women would stop instantly. But we all got freedom from sponsoring them with our tax money. A ratio is mentioned above from 1:5 i.e., 5 lives for one life. In Ramayan, Raavan and his Empire were destroyed only for one lady just for kidnapping, and I believe that the ratio would be 1 is to thousands of them. If Rama was killed then only Sita Devi would have been a widow and only she would have suffered. Due to Raavan and his army’s death, all of their spouses were turned into widows and faced the sufferings. Then why did we build temples for him and made him our God? No matter how many elements of gases exist in the atmosphere, we need only Oxygen to breathe. And no matter how many people live in our society, it is important to have some self-respect and character to live with dignity, You all got a dead body because you deserved for it. Mercy is only given for a mistake that can be rectified, but not for a Sin. And regarding your pain and suffering, we don’t care about your emotions as you all are facing the punishment. God is always aware of balancing justice. They died by hanging their neck which was less painful compared to the one she faced. Now the punishment faced by their families will add interest to her agony. And you are right with the fact that Rapes might not end even after their execution. So why don’t you keep a price tag over your neck and go out to find the men who would resemble your brother or son and give them your dignity so that the pain of losing your family member may get lightened? In addition to this, you can give them your other body parts along with your intestines. And remember not to take them to the judiciary and hang them as it would affect another family like you. We bayed for their blood since none of us wear a price tag over our neck and dignity. We may or may not be the Oxygen, but absolutely not a poisonous gas to destroy the world like these rapists.

    • Very well said my dear friend….. There’s nothing more to add to it since everything that you have mentioned is crystal clear…..

      Take care & God Bless you dear friend 🙂

      • Thank you, Sree and Jagdishwar Rao. Only if these people had guts to have direct interaction with the public then the humiliation they will face is not enough to bear throughout their entire lives.

  10. This case was about doing justice to the injustice done to a girl nicknamed, Nirbhaya. Period. And that justice has been done. Whether rapes stop or not was never the issue.

  11. The family members of the executed convicts should have a grievance if the men were innocent. They were afforded every single legal opportunity to defend themselves, exhaust all remedies, including curative and mercy petitions. Think of that young woman who had no opportunity to defend herself when life was so cruelly snuffed out of her. The trauma when she was shifted to Singapore for medical treatment, a journey that put her at further risk, by a panic stricken government. The furtive pre dawn cremation. I am not a blood thirsty person. This was a fit case for capital punishment. As is the one from Kathua. For that matter, each time a woman or a girl is violated and then killed, death by hanging should be the norm, not rarest of the rare.

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