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INDIA-CRIME-RAPE-WOMEN
Q&A: What do we know about 2012 gang-rape case that rocked India?
NEW DELHI, July 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – India’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld
death sentences for three men over the infamous gang-rape and murder of a
woman in New Delhi in 2012 that sparked national protests and led to tough
new penalties for sexual violence.
The horrific violence meted out to 23-year-old Jyoti Singh on a bus in
India’s capital sparked angry protests and shone unprecedented attention on
the scourge of sexual crimes against women in the country.
The case spurred a major overhaul of laws governing such crimes, faster
prosecutions in courts and harsher punishments for perpetrators.
Here are five questions and answers about the watershed case.
– Who was the victim? –
Singh’s father moved the family from their small farming village in rural
Uttar Pradesh state to the bustling capital in search of work.
It was hoped Singh would become the first professional in the family, and
all energies were channelled into her studies at a private physiotherapy
college.
Her father earned just $200 per month as an airport baggage handler but
sold ancestral land to help pay for his daughter’s tuition.
To supplement her family’s meagre income, Singh worked nights at an
outsourcing firm and gave private lessons to school children.
– What happened on December 16, 2012? –
Singh was returning from the cinema after watching ‘Life of Pi’ with a male
friend when they were offered a ride in a private bus.
Six men, including a juvenile, beat Singh’s friend unconscious before
raping and torturing her with an iron bar as the bus drove loops through the
city.
Singh was dumped on the streets 45 minutes later with horrific internal
injuries, and died 13 days later in a Singapore hospital.
– Why is this case extraordinary? –
The savagery of the attack proved a tipping point in a city where an
average of six women are raped every day.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Delhi demanding swifter
justice for victims and tougher laws to punish perpetrators.
It also led to much soul-searching about the treatment of women in India,
which suffers from extremely high levels of sexual assault and where
discrimination against women and girls is rife.
As Singh struggled to survive long enough to help police identify her
attackers, she became a symbol of India’s long-overdue campaign to end sexual
violence against women.
– What happened to the attackers? –
The accused were low-paid migrants to New Delhi, among them a bus cleaner,
a gym assistant, a fruit seller and a school dropout.
Four were convicted in September 2013 for murder, gang-rape, theft,
conspiracy and “unnatural acts” after a seven-month trial in a fast-track
court.
A fifth man, the suspected ringleader, was found dead in jail in a
suspected suicide, while the 17-year-old was sentenced to three years in a
detention centre and has since been released.
Sentencing the four in 2013, Judge Yogesh Khanna said the case fell into
the “rarest of rare category” which justifies capital punishment in India.
Just three were involved in the appeal rejected on Monday.
– What changes came of it? –
In the aftermath of the crime, a panel headed by a former chief justice was
tasked with reviewing India’s laws on sexual violence.
The panel recommended a minimum sentence of 20 years for gang-rape, with
the possibility of life imprisonment.
It also called for tougher punishments for a range of sexual crimes common
across India, including voyeurism, stalking and acid attacks.
The government responded by introducing tougher punishments for rapists,
including the death penalty for repeat offenders.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1623 hrs