The Delhi Court on Tuesday announced that the four men convicted in the rape and murder of a 23-year-old Delhi student will be hanged on 22 January at 7 a.m (local time).
The death warrant has been issued to Mukesh Singh, who used to work as a gym instructor Vinay Sharma, who worked as a helper on a bus, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta who worked as a fruit-seller.
Asha Devi, the mother of 23-year-old Nirbhaya, who waited seven years for justice for her daughter, was elated after the court’s announcement on Tuesday.
"My daughter has got justice. Execution of the four convicts will empower the women of the country. This decision will strengthen the trust of people in the judicial system,” she said.
"I am happy with the court's decision. The convicts will be hanged at 7 am on 22nd January... This decision will instil fear in people who commit such crimes," Nirbhaya’s father said.
The video of Nirbhaya’s mother coming out of court after the death penalty was served to the convicts today has been shared online:
The much-awaited decision has also come as a relief to many people in the country who witnessed years of court wrangling with mercy petitions and reviews filed by each convict.
Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal said that the death sentence will act as a deterrent.
Several politicians and journalists also expressed their content with the decision on Twitter, saying that justice has finally been served.
A section of netizens was left emotional with justice finally being served to Nirbhaya, who is often referred to as India’s daughter, while others bashed the judicial system for the years of delay in giving punishment.
On 16 December, 2012, the paramedic student Nirbhaya was brutally gang-raped and murdered by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi, before she was thrown out. She ultimately died in a Singapore hospital, as doctors in India could not restore her perforated intestines that had been pulled out of her body.
Ram Singh, the main accused and driver of the bus hung himself in his prison cell, another minor convict who was tried in the court separately was given the maximum sentence of three years in a reform facility.