Asha Singh proudly announced the name of her daughter, the student who lost her life in the case of the most brutal gang-rape that shook the world in 2012. “I feel no shame in naming my daughter. I say this in front of you all that her name was Jyoti Singh,” said the mother, at a public gathering in Delhi to mark the third anniversary of the attack.
“You all must also from now onwards call her Jyoti Singh. There is no need for us to feel any shame. It is the perpetrators of heinous crimes who must feel ashamed of themselves,” she said to a roaring applause from the audience. The 23-year-old student died after being brutally assaulted on a bus in New Delhi, triggering global outrage and protests in India over the country's high levels of violence against women. Four men were convicted and handed the death penalty in 2014 over the attack which occurred after Singh was lured on board the bus with a male friend following a trip to the cinema. Another attacker, who was 17 at the time, will be set free on Sunday after serving the maximum three years in a detention facility for juveniles. The victim's father on Wednesday criticised his imminent release, saying it was unclear if he had reformed during his time in the facility.
“Even after all our efforts, the juvenile convict will now be released,” a teary-eyed Asha said outside the court. “What message is this sending out to the public of the country. All I wanted was justice but crime has won today. There is politics in the country and us innocent people are always sacrificed.”
“Almost every day we read about even small girls being raped. If criminals like him are let off I fear what will happen to society,” her father said. He also accused politicians of lacking the will to end what he called India's rape crisis. While the government introduced tougher penalties for rapists and other measures after the 2012 attack, India has repeatedly hit the headlines for a series of brutal attacks including those of children and foreign women.
“We'd like to know if he repents what he did and whether he can live amongst us in society and not be a threat,” said Ranjana Kumari, head of the Centre for Social Research think-tank in Delhi. The National Commission of Women has also protested, saying his release would do nothing to tackle a culture of impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence.
