Juvenile 'release' scratches old wounds as Nirbhaya's mother watches helplessly

New Delhi, Dec 3: It has been three years since Asha Devi lost her only ray of hope to six lechers. Fighting for justice, she did reach a distance, but now has been pushed back to square one.

The release of the then 18-year old juvenile (now 20) brings fresh debates to the fore where the Indian judicial system is being targetted. SCheduled to be released on Dec 22, the rapist from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, will we released despite being the most torturous tormentor in the incident.

But a second twist in the story somewhat restores faith in the system. He will be released and handed over to an NGO for a year that will train him for vocational skills that would help him get re-introduced to the society.

But not everyone is happy, especially Asha Devi, despite Indian Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development Maneka Gandhi's clarion call for tracking such inhuman criminals even when they are free.

Nirbhaya's mother told media,"Juveniles will now think they can do whatever they want, and get away with it. But did he reform? Thousands of girls are being raped across the country. What has changed?"

Challenging the court's decision, Asha Devi said,"They say that his rights as a juvenile have to protected. What about us? Are we not citizens, don't we have rights? And what about Nirbhaya's rights? Doesn't she deserve justice? Don't we deserve justice? I appeal to the government to not allow this to happen. If he roams free we will be sending a wrong message to others."

Meanwhile, Nirbhaya's father was quoted as saying the obvious,"He may go out and commit another crime and if he does, it will be due to shortcomings on the government's part. He is a person who should be kept under watch. We can't just let him go and wait for him to do something else."

OneIndia News