New bar of tolerance limit was raised, when the unfortunate incident of Nirbhaya gangrape took place in the Capital on the night of December 16, 2012. The rage it brought out in people, made it evident that they won’t take it anymore. They came in large crowds, out on the streets, demanding for what is theirs — the right to safety and the right to justice if wronged.
Four years have passed since then but those who committed this horrendous gangrape are yet to be punished. Ram Singh, the main accused, had committed suicide in Tihar Jail while the juvenile who supposedly inflicted the most inhuman treatment to the 23-year-old para-medical girl student, has been set free now. Mukesh Singh, Akshaya Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta are convicted and lodged in Tihar. They were sentenced to death by the session court and their sentences were upheld by the Delhi High Court. Their appeal is pending in the Supreme Court and they cannot be hanged till the apex court takes the call.
It almost shook the Government, making it realise the might of people’s anger. However, politicians left no stone unturned to milk the situation and make promises to molly-coddle the crowds. The promises are till date nowhere close to reality.
Governments changed and people revolted hoping for a safer Delhi, but how far did things come from December 16, 2012, still remains the question. For an answer, one could say, things have changed-since then, the number of rape cases reported have tripled. The promise to get at least 33 per cent women in Delhi Police ranks, has been met by a mere 8.4 per cent. The expenditure set aside for training male officers dropped from 9.4 per cent in 2013 to 2.57 per cent in 2015. An amount of `322 crore was reportedly dedicated to a Nirbhaya Fund to create a mobile-phone-borne alarm system for women in distress, but in vain.
Then came leslie Udwin’s ‘India’s Daughter’ to bring back incident’s painful memory. The question of how an outsider could air her views on Nirbhaya issue, again enraged many. Still there was nothing to change the perceived image of India’s capital, that came to be seen as one of the most unsafe places for women.
In no time amid all the candle light marches and claims by different political parties, Nirbhaya’s cause was lost. With the end of 2012, ended the promises and the new-found hope for change.
Time, paired with low results (juvenile justice issue), tamed the urge the society felt to transform the system. Though the passing years couldn’t heal the wounds of the memory of Nirbhaya incident, India witnessed many more heart-wrenching incidents like that of Gudiya.