The devilish incident of sexual assault on a medical student in a running bus in South Delhi that shook entire nation happened exactly one year ago. Everyone was upset by it and wanted so rigorous a punishment to the culprits should be awarded that such an incident will not take place in the future.
Four of the accused were convicted with death sentence by hanging. Main accused committed suicide in the jail before the case came to trial. Another accused was handed over to the juvenile home as he was a minor when the crime was committed.
Nirbhaya Act was passed and the punishments were made rigorous. But did it make any difference? The immediate answer one gets will be in negation without thinking for a second. Many more such incidents came to light and many cases were booked under Nirbhaya Act without much difference in the sexual crimes.
The gang rape on Nirbhaya happened on December 16, 2012. She died on December 29 after medical treatment at Singapore. The Accused were sentenced to death on September 13. Even a reconsideration of determining whether a minor should be treated as other criminals depending on the gravity of the crime but not on the age has come up as suggested by the Supreme Court following the petition for that by the father of Nirbhaya.
In spite of all this the sexual assaults on women are not on decrease. It has become a serious question among intellectuals and social reformers how to deal with the social problem. Let us hope that a solution will be found soon so that women, half of the human population can live with freedom and without fear from other half of the population.
-SriJa
