Nirbhaya's mother slams Indira Jaising for ‘advising’ her to pardon rape convicts; father demands apology

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, January 18

“Who is Indira Jaising to give me such a suggestion?” replied the mother of December 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder victim after the senior lawyer asked her to forgive the four men, who are on death row for committing the brutal crime against her daughter

The mother was reacting to Indira Jaising’s tweet on Friday.

“Who is Indira Jaising to give me such a suggestion? The whole country wants the convicts to be executed. Just because of people like her, justice is not done with rape victims,” she told newsagency ANI.

“I can’t believe how Indira Jaising even dared to suggest such this. I met her many times over the years in the Supreme Court, not once did she ask for my wellbeing and today she is speaking for convicts. Such people earn a livelihood by supporting rapists, hence rape incidents don’t stop,” she said.

Also read: SC to hear on Jan 20 Nirbhaya convict’s plea against HC order rejecting his juvenility claim

Nirbhaya's father on Saturday also said that the senior lawyer Indira Jaising should be "ashamed" of suggesting pardon for the four death row convicts in his daughter's gangrape case and said his family isn't as "large-hearted" as Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

He also demanded an apology from Jaising, who is known for her stand against capital punishment.

Jaising had tweeted the request soon after the mother had said she felt “betrayed” after a court in Delhi deferred the date of the execution of the four convicts from January 22 to February 1.

The senior lawyer wrote: “While I fully identify with the pain of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn’t not want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against death penalty.”

While I fully identify with the pain of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn’t not want the death penalty for her . We are with you but against death penalty. https://t.co/VkWNIbiaJp

— Indira Jaising (@IJaising) January 17, 2020

Nalini Sriharan was sentenced to death in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case. Her death penalty was commuted to life term after the intervention of his wife Sonia Gandhi, who urged for clemency on account of the fact that Nalini had a young daughter who was born in jail.

Nirbhaya's father said this is a "wrong message".

"She (Indira Jaising) is a woman herself. She should be ashamed of her comments and apologise to Nirbhaya's mother," he told PTI.

"We have been fighting the case for seven years. We are common people and not politicians. Humara dil Sonia Gandhi ji jitna bada nahi hai (We are not as large-hearted as Sonia Gandhi)," he said.

"Such mentality is responsible for the rising number of rapes," he added.

Nirbhaya's father said his wife held similar views.

He said they had seen Jaising in court but never interacted with her. "Why did she have to say something and face insult when she has nothing to do with the case," he asked.

On Friday, a Delhi court issued fresh death warrants for February 1 against the four convicts—Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan (25)—in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

Earlier in the day, President Ram Nath Kovind had rejected the mercy petition of Mukesh.

Nirbhaya's father said he is hopeful of justice finally being delivered.

A 23-year-old paramedic student, who came to be known as Nirbhaya (fearless), was gangraped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, in a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons, including the four death row convicts, before being thrown out on the road.

She succumbed to her injuries a fortnight later at a hospital in Singapore. — With PTI

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.