Day after ordinance, Sonia meets Nirbhaya’s family

NEW DELHI: The juvenile who was part of the six-member gang that raped and brutalized Nirbhaya must not get away with lighter punishment, her parents told Sonia Gandhi and Rahul on Saturday. The Congress leaders who visited the family at their southwest Delhi home were told that tough anti-rape laws were a must to deter sexual assaults on women.
The visit came a day after the government issued an ordinance based on the Justice Verma panel's recommendations to strengthen laws on sexual assault.It was mum on such crimes committed by juveniles.
The Congress president and her son reached the run-down neighbourhood, with open drains and rows of lower middle-class homes, around 6pm and left only after 7pm. They came without their security detail. The narrow lane forced them to leave their cars some distance from Nirbhaya's home and walk the rest of the way. Congress spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary and West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra were with them.
The Gandhis talked to Nirbhaya's parents and her two brothers in their single-room house. The parents said the government must ensure that the tragedy that befell their daughter on the night of December 16 never occurred to another woman. They were waiting for justice to be done to their daughter.
Sonia had been eager to meet the family for quite some time, senior party leaders said. On Saturday, she listened as the parents recalled how they had worked hard to give Nirbhaya an education so that she could achieve her dreams. Nirbhaya's father is a loader at the airport and had sold his land to fund her education. The timing of the visit was important, given the flak the government got over its tackling of the protests following the gang rape.
Despite hardships, the family focused on the kids' education and Nirbhaya, a topper at school and college, had given them hope.