Delhi gang-rape verdict: Is the three years sentence for juvenile enough?

The battle for the victim`s family to get justice for their daughter is still far from over.

He was the most brutal of the six accused which raped the 23-year-old paramedical student in Delhi in a moving bus last year and then tried to crush her under the same bus along with the other accused. He was the one who caused the most grievous injuries to the victim that finally proved fatal for her.

The incident that caused outrage led to massive protests not just across the nation but across the world as well. A family on that day lost a daughter and all of us a little piece of humanity within us. Almost nine months after all the accused were arrested and fast-track courts were set up to ensure speedy justice, the `most brutal` of all the accused was pronounced the ‘maximum’ sentencing by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) — three years in prison. The first sentencing in the Delhi gang-rape left most of us just as outraged and disappointed as it did on the day when the news of the incident first flashed across TV screens. After the verdict was pronounced and visuals of him being led away by the police were aired, one could only think of the smile that must be written on his face and on the faces of other accused that now plan to get away with such heinous crimes on the mere technicality of being a minor. The inhumane act that was committed and the girl whose life was snatched away so brutally will soon be forgotten just because of some technicality. While the loss of the daughter, a sister and a friend can never be replaced, the closure that the family and friends of Nirbhaya had been hoping for by seeing the accused behind bars for the crime they had committed seems to be a tough battle. The verdict shocked family of the victim which was promised speedy justice when the politicians made beeline for the hospital and the victim’s home at the time after the incident, promising them every possible help to ensure that the guilty do not get away. While several changes were made and an anti-rape bill was passed in the Parliament which provides for life term and even death sentence for rape convicts besides stringent punishment for offences like acid attacks, stalking and voyeurism; the family of the victim is still to get justice for their daughter. "I saw my sister fighting for her life every second because of the accused. The sentencing of three years is not sufficient. we will appeal against the decision in higher court," said the brother of the victim after the sentencing by the JJB. The case reminds me of the recent senseless murder of Christopher lane (22) who was shot dead by three ‘bored’ teens in Oklahoma. Chancey Allen Luna (16) and James Francis Edwards Jr (15) of Duncanin will be charged with first degree murder and will be tried as adults. And the third one, Michael Dewayne Jones (17), was charged with using a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and with accessory to first-degree murder. Now, the laws around the world can be different but the underlying factor for all is to provide justice to the victim so that the act does not go unpunished and deters others from committing the same crime. Will the verdict prove as a deterrent to criminals in future, is anybody’s guess. But the battle for the family to get justice for their daughter is still far from over.