Prime Minister Narendra Modi said justice has been done after four men convicted for the rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi were hanged on Friday, more than seven years after they committed the brutal crime that shook the country.
“Justice has prevailed. It is of utmost importance to ensure dignity and safety of women,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
“Our Nari Shakti has excelled in every field. Together, we have to build a nation where the focus is on women empowerment, where there is emphasis on equality and opportunity,” he added.
Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma were hanged simultaneously inside Tihar Jail number 3 at 5:30am for the Delhi 2012 gang-rape and murder of the young woman in a moving bus, director-general of police Sandeep Goel said.
Six people, including a juvenile, had gang-raped and fatally assaulted the woman. Prime accused Ram Singh, the bus driver, committed suicide in 2013 and a juvenile accused was released after spending three years in a reform home.
The crime had sparked widespread protests across the country, a massive global outrage and led to toughening of laws against sex offenders in India.
“Finally, the convicts have been hanged. This was a struggle of eight years. It was delayed but we got justice. Today, Nirbhaya got justice and girls of the country got justice. I want to thank everyone – the judiciary, the government, every citizen – for this,” Asha Devi, the woman’s mother, said while speaking to reporters after the hanging.
“This will be a message for the entire country, she said. “Girls will now feel safer. After the execution, families will start teaching their sons and use the hanging as an example,” she said.
The paramedical student, who was gang-raped, brutally assaulted and thrown off the bus, fought for her life for nearly two weeks before succumbing to her injuries.
She died in a hospital in Singapore, where she had been airlifted, on December 29, 2012
