The Statesman, 19 January 2020
Every
evening at 8 pm, the same poignant scene unfolds outside the apartments in
sector 19, Dwarka, where Nirbhaya’s parents currently live. Some RWA members
and Nirbhaya’s parents stand with lit candles for an hour in the cold,
reminding the country’s institutions, in their usual dignified manner, that
justice still eludes them at the end of seven long years. They have been holding
this evening vigil for 31 days now and will continue to do so till the culprits
are dealt with as per their sentence. The group of candle bearers is growing daily.
Other satellite groups have formed, in solidarity with Nirbhaya’s parents.
What is unacceptable is the way the criminals
are exploiting one legal loophole after another, right under the gaze of
lawyers and government. Three different courts, the Sessions court, the High
court as well as the Supreme Court examined the case in detail over several
months and reached the same unanimous verdict of the death penalty in 2017. The
law allows the filing of mercy and curative petitions after such a penalty as
well as the ability to apply for presidential pardon - but within a ‘reasonable
time frame’. Secure in the knowledge that our legal system is tardy, the
criminals were caught napping for two years. Now that the date of their execution
has been declared, they are filing one petition after another. Since most
petitions and PILs on a common topic are clubbed together, it also seems a
miscarriage of justice to allow criminals to file their applications serially
rather than collectively. Are we to understand that a victim who is gang raped
by a larger number of people must expect a longer delay before justice is
awarded? The judicial system must not be allowed to be subverted to give such
dreaded criminals one undeserving chance at delay after another. When the same
courts and government are dragging their heels over possible violations of
constitutional rights of citizens a such as those protesting peacefully against
CAA/NRC/NPR implementation, as well as the citizens of Kashmir; giving these
people who have indulged in such a monstrous act so much judicial leeway is
palpably unfair. The Central government
has demonstrated the ability to effect changes almost overnight such as in the
case of demonetization and abrogation of article 370 (which was complicated and
fraught with constitutional implications). Given this background it is
incomprehensible how the combined might of the Central and State governments is
not able to provide justice to a forlorn, long suffering, anguished mother and
father even at the end of seven years in a proven case of rape and murder.
There is a
worldwide debate on whether the death penalty stands scrutiny and there are
strong arguments for and against. Suffice it to say that our Indian legal
system currently allows the death penalty to be prescribed for the rarest of
rare cases. Rather than discussing that aspect, I would rather like to draw
your attention to the ‘sentence’ meted out by criminals to innocent citizens for
no fault of theirs.
When our
citizens’ group first met Nirbhaya’s parents a year or two after the December
2012 incident, one of the things that Badriji her father said, are etched
vividly in my memory. He said ‘I nearly lost one more member of my family that
year’. The allusion was of course to a grief and depression so deep that it can
kill a person. It is by no means easy to deal with such a great loss. Asha ji
would agonize for years afterwards about the fourteen odd days she spent with
Nirbhaya in the hospital when Nirbhaya was in a critical condition. She would
keep remembering her desperate desire to give in to her daughter’s request of
just one sip of water, which she couldn’t, given the doctors’ strict instructions
to the contrary. The mental trauma and stress which the family has undergone is
tremendous. Even then, they have got back on their feet and work towards
justice and empowerment for all girls. Does this long suffering mother and
father duo not deserve the court and government’s empathy and support? Should
they be standing day in and day out in the cold while the criminals explore one
legal remedy after another, wasting the taxpayers and courts’ time and money? What
makes these remorseless persons who inflicted such cruelty on Nirbaya so
special that we provide them chance after chance to keep challenging their richly
deserved and ethically and legally arrived at sentence? Why are governments
mulling the political advantages and timing of addressing such a grave travesty
of justice rather than mitigating the suffering of the parents? When will
everyone gracefully acknowledge the verdict arrived at by all the courts?
When we
consider the struggle of a victim of sexual assault in India, their agony is
compounded multiple times after the incident, which does not allow them to put
it behind them easily. The difficulties begin right from the time when the FIR
is filed. Dealing with insensitive and brusque officials, makes the victim feel
worse. Mental counseling is rarely provided. Then come years of court
appearances where some of the illiterate victims, do not even fully comprehend the
court proceedings and just get the feeling that they are being given one date of
extension after another as the case drags on. The defense lawyers of the
accused often are brutal in the cross examination. Somehow casting aspersion on
the victim’s character is a cheap and popular ploy.
At home, the victim has no respite. Often insensitive
neighbours avoid interacting with a ‘violated’ girl or are intimidated by the
families of the accused into not meeting the victim. The relatives of the
accused, sometimes abetted by the local officials put pressure on the victim to
withdraw the case by bullying and threats. The victim and their family thus
live in fear and constant dread. Often, they have lifelong gynaecological or
other medical problems for which they need to be on prolonged treatment and
medication. Some spend a lifetime on antidepressants. Many lose out on a
promising career.
Instead of
focusing on the human rights of criminals, why do we not vociferously argue about
the right to life and liberty of the victim as guaranteed by article 21 of our Constitution
? Or the human right against cruelty in the Universal Declaration ? It is truly
ironical how those who brutally violate the rights of another clamour for their
own rights to be protected and are listened to with a great show of fairness.
Those adults
who commit these heinous crimes know full well that it is punishable with
severe sentences.It is their conscious choice to tempt judicial fate. But what
of innocent citizens who are sentenced to a lifetime of mental agony, physical
trauma or lose their lives ? Did they deserve such a sentence ? Are they
getting any chances at being whole and healed again ? Not so. Then why an
inordinate number of chances for depraved humans indulging in heinous acts?
The
resources in a democracy should be focused on the greatest good for the
greatest majority. Sadly there is a tendency for reasons of sensationalism to
direct these resources, our time and empathy towards an undeserving handful of
the worst behaved citizens. It is time that this thinking changed.
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