Promises of justice just 'political gimmick', don't feel like voting this time: Nirbhaya's parents

Lok Sabha elections 2019 is currently under way and leaders are motivating people to exercise their franchise. You all must be excited to exercise your fundamental right but Nirbhaya’s parents are not. Asha Devi and Badri Nath Singh, the parents of the woman who was gangraped and killed and came to be known as Nirbhaya, say they might not vote this time at all.

While talking to the news agency PTI, Nirbhaya’s parents said that they are tired of parties promising them justice and doing nothing about it. “The sympathy expressed by the parties and their promises have been just a ‘political gimmick’ as the culprits are still alive,” they said.

The couple further said, “The streets continue to be unsafe for the city's women and children.” "CCTV cameras are yet to be installed... the country is still unsafe, mothers still worry till their daughters return home,” they added.

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Asha Devi said, "People have no faith in the system. All the governments have failed us. I don't feel like voting for any party this time." “It has been seven years since her daughter was raped and murdered brutally but the judgement of the death sentence is yet to be implemented,” she noted.

On the other hand, Badri Nath Singh said, "Nothing has changed. This time I don't even feel like going to cast my ballot. My faith in the system has been shaken." "All parties talk about women's dignity and empowerment but have no road map and they lack the will to do what they promise. At the end of the day, it remains only our pain, our struggle, our battle and our helplessness," he added.

Nirbhaya was gangraped on the night of December 16, 2012, and died of her grievous injuries 11 days later in a Singapore hospital.

The six men accused of raping and killing Nirbhaya were awarded death sentence in September 2013. Later, in the year 2014, the decision was upheld by the Delhi High Court.

Ram Singh, one of the accused in the case, allegedly committed suicide in jail and another, a juvenile, was convicted of rape and murder and given the maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment in a reform facility.

In December last year, the top court dismissed a petition seeking directions for the immediate execution of the four men convicted in the case.

On July 9 last year, the top court dismissed the pleas of three convicts? Mukesh (31), Pawan Gupta (24) and Vinay Sharma (25)? seeking review of its 2017 verdict upholding the capital punishment awarded to them by the Delhi High Court.

The fourth death row convict, Akshay Kumar Singh (33), has not filed a review plea in the top court. Asha Devi and Nath have moved Delhi's Patiala House Court to fast-track the procedure to hang the four convicts.

With inputs from PTI