Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has authorised the filing of a review petition in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of the three accused in the Chhawla rape and murder case.
This comes just days after the parents of the 2012 Chhawla gangrape victim met with Delhi LG VK Saxena and asked him to file a review petition against all three accused’s acquittal. On February 9, 2012, three men allegedly abducted, gang-raped, and murdered a 19-year-old girl from Uttarakhand’s Pauri in the Chhawla area of the national capital’s Dwarka.
In the aforementioned case, the Supreme Court acquitted the three defendants on November 7, overturning the Delhi High Court’s decision to sentence the trio to life in prison.
LG Saxena has also authorised the appointment of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Aishwariya Bhati to represent the government before the Supreme Court, ANI reported.
Out of anxiety, the parents of the slain young girl sought police protection after the release of two of the three suspects from Rohini Jail.
On February 13, 2012, the accused were arrested, and after an inquiry, the police submitted a charge sheet, and on May 26, 2012, the court of sessions framed charges against all three accused, namely Rahul, Ravi Kumar, and Vinod alias Chhotu.
After the trial in the case, the court of sessions convicted all three of them and awarded the death sentence on February 13, 2014, later their filed a plea which was eventually dismissed.
These three accused persons then approached the Supreme Court against the HC’s judgment and the former in its November 7 judgment allowed the above appeals and the judgments and orders of conviction and sentence passed by the Trial Court and High Court were set aside.
The Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson (DCW) Swati Maliwal has taken suo moto cognizance for the welfare of the family of the 19-year-old gang rape victim whose body was found mutilated in Haryana, three days after she was abducted in 2012.
The 19-year-old was a resident of Chhawla, Delhi and was abducted from Qutub Vihar. The girl was subjected to the utmost horrors before being murdered brutally.
“We have not just lost the battle but also the will to live,” said the mother of the Chhawla gangrape victim as she broke down following the Supreme Court’s decision to acquit all three accused.
The victim’s father said the apex court has “let them down” and they have lost faith in the judiciary after fighting for over 11 years.
He also alleged that the system is taking advantage of their poverty.
“Even after 11 years, this is the verdict. We have lost it…We lost the battle…I was living with this hope…I have lost my will to live. I thought my daughter would get justice,” the victim’s mother said, breaking into tears outside the apex court premises.
The father of the victim said, “what was supposed to happen with criminals ultimately happened with us.”
