Three years later the horrific December 16, 2012 gangrape case in Delhi, women activists say “nothing much has changed” when it comes to safety of women in the national capital. The incident shook the nation and led to a massive public outcry forcing Parliament to enact a new anti-rape law.
“What has changed in Delhi? Do we have lesser rapes now? Has the security system been strengthened? Have the convicts of brutal gangrape been hanged? Definitely, the Nirbhaya gangrape trigerred a huge outcry but where are the results,” said Ranjana Kumari, activist and Director, Centre for Social Research.
“The nation is yet to see the ‘hanging’ of the convicts and to believe the fact that the ones contributing to violence against women will be severely punished and the situation ‘changed VS not changed’ will continue till strong examples are set that the accused will not be spared,” she added.
Another activist Kavita Krishnan said, “The juvenile accused is likely to walk free, that speaks volumes about the ‘change’ in the past three years. Neither there is political will nor conviction of the accused”.
“Law has been made, funds have been allocated, fast track court was to hear the case but where is the implementation and where are the results that reflect a change in the society,” she added.
Six persons including a juvenile, had brutally assaulted and raped a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. The victim had succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012, plunging the country into grief.