New Delhi: December 16, 2017 will mark five years of the gangrape of a paramedical student that triggered nation-wide protests. The horrific gangrape of a 23-year-old woman that resulted in her death has raked up the issue of safety of women in India like never before.
On December 16, 2012, the 23-year-old, who came to be known as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped by six men in a moving bus. She was assaulted with an iron rod and her intestines were pulled out, the doctors had said. She died at a hospital in Singapore 13 days later.
For the first time hundreds marched seeking justice and greater safety for women, and the harshest possible punishment for those guilty. The subject also sparked debates over how the law should deal with juvenile offenders and how India can be made safer for women.
After much protest, six rapists were held. One was juvenile. One of the prime accused, Ram Singh, was found hanging in his cell at Delhi’s Tihar jail three months after his arrest. The other four convicts were sentenced to death September 13, 2013, by the Delhi High Court.
The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017. The review petition of the convicts will be heard by the Supreme Court in January.
Here are all the developments related to Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case:
2012 December 16: A 23-year-old paramedical student is brutally gang-raped by six men in a private bus in New Delhi. Her male friend was beaten up and they were thrown out of the moving vehicle in a semi-nude condition. The two were admitted to Safdarjung Hospital.
December 17: Widespread protests erupt across the country demanding strict action against the accused. Police identify four accused as bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta.
December 18: Police arrest the four accused.
December 20: Police record the statement of Nirbhaya’s friend.
December 21: The juvenile delinquent arrested from Delhi’s Anand Vihar bus terminal. The friend identified Mukesh as one of the culprits. Raids conducted in Haryana and Bihar to arrest the sixth accused – identified as Akshay Thakur.
December 21, 22: Police arrest Akshay Thakur in Bihar’s Aurangabad district and is subsequently, brought to Delhi to face trial. Nirbhaya records her statement in the hospital.
December 23: Protests break out in various parts of Delhi; prohibitory orders are defied and on-duty Delhi police constable Subhas Tomar is rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.
December 25: Nirbhaya’s condition declared critical. Delhi police constable Subhas Tomar succumbs to his injuries.
December 26: Nirbhaya flown to Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital by the government following a cardiac arrest.
December 29: Nirbhaya succumbs to her injuries and other medical conditions at 2.15 am. The accused to also face a murder charge.
2013
January 2: Chief Justice Altamas Kabir brings in fast-track court for quick trial in sexual offences.
January 3: Chargesheet filed against the five adult accused, who will face trial for murder, gang-rape, attempt to murder, kidnapping, unnatural offences and dacoity among others.
January 5: Court takes cognizance of the charge sheet.
January 7: Court orders in-camera proceedings.
January 17: Fast-track court starts proceedings against the five accused.
January 28: Juvenile Justice Board confirms that the fifth accused is a minor.
February 2: Charges are framed against the five adults.
February 28: Charges framed against the juvenile.
March 11: The bus driver, Ram Singh, found hanging from his cell in Delhi’s Tihar jail.
March 22: Delhi High Court allows media to report trial court’s proceedings.
July 5: Juvenile Justice Board concludes trial; verdict reserved for July 11.
July 8: Fast-track court completes recording of testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
July 11: The juvenile is held guilty of illegally confining and robbing a carpenter on the night of December 16, before the incident.
August 22: Fast-track court begins final arguments against the remaining four accused.
August 31: The juvenile is convicted for murder and gang-rape and sentenced to three years at a probation home.
September 3: Fast-track court concludes trial.
September 10: Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan found guilty of 13 offences including grangrape and murder.
September 13: The court sentences the four adult convicts to death.
September 23: High Court begins hearing the death sentence references sent by the trial court.
2014
January 3: High Court reserves verdict on the convicts’ appeal.
March 13: The death penalty is upheld by the High Court.
March 15: Supreme Court issues stay-order on the death sentence.
April 15: The police is ordered by the top court to produce Nirbhaya’s dying declaration.
2015
December 20: The juvenile – who was a few months short of 18 on December 16,2012 – is released from the correctional home, triggering widespread protests across the country.
2017
February 3: Supreme Court says it would hear afresh the aspect of awarding death penalty to the convicts.
March 27: The Court reserves verdict on the convicts’ appeal.
May 5: The death sentence awarded to the four convicts is upheld. The Supreme Court states that the case falls under the ‘rarest of rare’ and added that the incident created a ‘tsunami of shock’.
May 6: The counsels of the four convicts said that the Supreme Court has bowed to public pressure in confirming the death sentences and they will file review petition.
May 11: Source in Tihar jail said that the four convicts are under depression after the Supreme Court verdict and are being given expert counselling.
November 3: Jyoti Singh’s father Badrinath Singh said that his younger son has become a pilot and thanked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for standing by them and helping his son get admission to the Uran Akademi in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli.
November 13: The Supreme Court said it would hear the pleas of the four death row convicts on December 12.
December 12: During the hearing of the plea, advocate ML Sharma, who represents Mukesh, one of the convicts, accused the state and the police of bribing two witnesses (the victim’s mother and father). Chief Justice Dipak Misra, sharply reacted to this and said, “What is this? Stop it. You can’t make such statements and that too at the review stage.” Mr Sharma was asked to make a case for review. The Supreme Court adjourned the review petition till January.
PNN