Nirbhaya’s mother urges govt and society to ensure women safety

New Delhi: Asha Devi, mother of the paramedic student who was a victim of barbaric crime, on Sunday urged society and government to come forward and work for women's safety.

 "Every morning when I get up, I am determined that today things will change. But daughters are still becoming the victims of heinous crimes. To stop all this, there is a need of a strong law. 

For this, society and government should come together," she said at an event here to mark the incident.

The programme was organised by Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust.
      
BJP MP Udit Raj, who was also present at the event, said the patriarchal mindset prevailing in the country needed to be changed and that crime against women was a product of the present social and cultural system.

"Even women are proud of this culture which is 'anti-women'. When the Supreme Court order allowing women's entry into Sabarimala temple is not followed, what worst can happen? Women have been victims of this culture since ages. Even Vedas and Ramcharitmanas are filled with instances of anti-women mindset.

"Incidents like the December 16 gang grape-murder are by- products of this socio-religious system which we have made," he said.

Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee said merely making laws was not enough, "Their implementation and making people aware about the laws are equally important," she said.

In one of the most horrendous incidents the nation has ever witnessed, six men had raped the paramedic student, and assaulted her and injured her male friend in a moving bus as it drove through the streets of Delhi.

She was thrown out of the bus - so grievously injured that her insides were spilling out.

A fortnight later, on December 29, 2012, she succumbed in a Singapore hospital.

The Supreme Court had in July upheld the death sentence for four men -- Mukesh (29), Pawan (22), Vinay Sharma (23) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- convicted of the rape and murder of the young woman who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya', the fearless.

A fifth accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail in March 2013 and the sixth, a convicted juvenile was sentenced to three years of punishment in a reform-home and released in 2015.

Kejri pledges to ensure women safety 

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday remembered Nirbhaya. He pledged to ensure a strong struggle for women safety "despite all hurdles".

"Six years ago, on this day one of the most brutal and worst crime was committed in the history of Delhi. 

Only way to keep the brave Nirbhaya alive in our minds is to ensure a strong struggle for women safety despite all hurdles in our way," Kejriwal said on Twitter.