'Dark Clouds Hovering Over Us, We Have Lost'

Father Of 19-Yr-Old Who Was Gang-Raped, Killed Cites Nirbhaya Verdict To Demand Justice

- Sakshi Chand

New Delhi: “It is not about my child alone. Such crimes taking place in the national capital and then the accused being set free will definitely give a boost to crime,” said the distraught father of the 19-year-old girl who was kidnapped from Chhawla area in 2012 by three men. She was gang-raped, brutalised and left to die in a mustard field in Haryana. Her mutilated and decomposed body was found days later. She had been brutally assaulted with various objects, including car tools and earthen pots.

Around 11.30am on Monday, the top court, which had reserved its order on the death penalty, pronounced its judgment acquitting all three men. The parents of the girl, who were sitting on the lawns, froze for a moment and then burst into tears as the enormity of what had happened dawned on them. “In the middle of the day, dark clouds have appeared over us. We have lost our battle for justice. They will be free now and do this to other women and girls too,” said the girl’s mother.