Justice has prevailed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted after the four men, convicted of raping and murdering 23-year-old Nirbhaya, were executed early on Friday.
“Justice has prevailed. It is of utmost importance to ensure dignity and safety of women. 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 said without directly mentioning the Nirbhaya case.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani told reporters, “I greet this day with aplomb that justice has finally been done to Nirbhaya. The hanging is a message for every criminal that one day law will catch up with you. It will send out a strong message to criminals that they cannot escape the law”.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was time for introspection by the judiciary, the government and ensure that capital punishment convicts not be allowed to manipulate the system to delay for seven years. “It’s a day of satisfaction that a daughter, who underwent so much pain, has got justice,” he told reporters outside the Parliament House.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for a collective resolution to remove loopholes in the system so it doesn’t happen to any daughter again. “After seven years, Nirbhaya case convicts were hanged today. It’s a day to take a resolution that we will not allow another Nirbhaya case. Police, courts, state governments and the Centre should resolve to collectively remove loopholes in the system to let this not happen to any daughter,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said Nirbhaya had got Justice. “Let us always remember that anyone who outrages the dignity of women will not be forgiven. Let us create new India where every woman is respected and given equal opportunity,” he tweeted.
Nirbhaya Fund
The Congress, however, targeted the Modi government for not doing enough including non-utlisation of the Nirbhaya Fund that was meant to enhance the safety of women.
Party leader Amee Yajnik said, “I think Nirbhaya’s justice is delivered by the judicial system because of whatever evidence was there but the implementation of the Nirbhaya Fund is not happening. It is a sorry state of affairs. I think the government should speak up about the plan or the road map for giving safety and security to the women of this country”.
