‘Hanging - real tribute to Nirbhaya’
21 Mar 2020 09:17:00
Nirbhaya rape and murder case victim’s mother (C) is greeted by friends and relatives in in Dwarka, New Delhi after four men convicted of the crime were executed inside Tihar jail on Friday. (PTI)
NEW DELHI :
THE hanging of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case has come as a closure for not just her family but also the police officials who investigated the barbaric case as they termed it a “real tribute” to the victim. On Friday, as the convicts were executed in the premises of Tihar Jail, the investigators recalled the challenges they encountered while probing the case. Pramod Singh Kushwaha, then the additional DCP (South) and who headed the investigation team, said each member of the team pitched in to prepare a watertight case against the convicts.
“The hanging is a tribute to the departed soul. They will also act as a deterrent to other rapists,” Kushwaha, now the DCP of the special cell, told PTI. He said there was a separate investigation team that was designated to follow-up of the case and he was also part of that SIT. “We ensured that the family was kept informed about the developments in the case and the arrests so that they remained confident in the investigation,” he said. Aanil Sharma was the SHO of the Vasant Vihar police station where the case was registered in 2012 which had led to an outrage across the nation.
“This is a tribute to the departed soul. Finally, her soul can rest in peace. We are there for her family,” he said. The police officer said he had not missed a single hearing in the case and was still in touch with the victim’s family. Sharma, currently posted as the SHO of Rajouri Garden police station, had told PTI that he faced three inquiry commissions in the case and none of them found any laxity on the part of the police station. “They, in fact, praised us. Even the courts praised the police’s efforts,” he said.
Safdarjung doctors remember Nirbhaya as ‘brave woman’
NEW DELHI :
DOCTORS at Safdarjung Hospital who treated ‘Nirbhaya’ in 2012 remembered her as a “brave woman” and said that with the hanging of the four convicts law had taken its course. She was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital before being airlifted to Singapore for treatment where she succumbed to injuries. Dr B D Athani, who was the Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital when Nirbhaya was treated, said they have got “closure”. “I was involved in the medical management part of it. It was a very heinous crime that they committed. Law has taken its course. We had referred the patient to Singapore. We have got closure as far as this patient is concerned,” he said. Athani said they were under immense pressure at that time and despite that “medically, the case withstood scrutiny”.
“We did not spare any efforts in treating her and tried till the end. I appreciate the team of doctors. Right from the senior resident who was on duty when she was brought to the hospital to the other doctors. They were all emotionally affected but it did not affect the treatment,” Dr B D Athani said. A doctor, who was part of the team that treated her, said at that time, most of the women resident doctors in the hospital were “traumatised” seeing what she had gone through.
Most critical case in 37 yrs career: Ex-Delhi Police Chief Kumar
NEW DELHI,
NEERAJ Kumar, who headed the Delhi Police when Nirbhaya was gangraped and murdered in 2012, on Friday said it was the “most critical” case in his 37-year career. Expressing relief at the outcome of the case after the four convicts were hanged in Tihar Jail, the 1976-batch IPS officer said his reputation was at stake with the case that caught the attention of the entire country. Had this case not been brought to its logical conclusion, “all that I had done in my professional career would have been negated”, he said.