New Delhi: "Our tears have not dried. With each passing day her memories get more intense. Someone is always crying at home" - these words of the father of December 16 gangrape victim describe the pain and struggle of her family to overcome the tragedy that shook India a year ago.
Since the fateful incident, the family of the girl remains in grip of shock, grief and anger though four of the rapists were sentenced to death by a court after a nine-month trial. "We will never recover ever and she is very much alive within us," the 48-year-old father told PTI with tears welling up in his eyes.
He said that every time his wife cooks something, she remembers her daughter. "Every time we sit to eat our meals, my wife says...'this is her favorite food and we are eating it without her'. She loved good food. My wife remembers the last time when our daughter left home saying that she will be back home in three- four hours...but our wait never ended as the hours turned into months and then into years," he said with a choked voice.
Fighting back tears, he said that their real battle has begun now as they have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the juvenile accused who was "let off". "We have not yet got justice. We want all the culprits including the one, who was a juvenile at the time of the incident, to be hanged and only perhaps then our minds will get some rest and we will be able to sleep in peace," he said with his wife nodding in agreement.
Her parents had moved the Supreme Court on November 30 seeking directions to put one of the accused who was then a minor on trial by a criminal court by quashing a law whichbans such prosecution of juveniles.
When asked if the women in the country feel safe since the incident which triggered mass protests forcing the government to amend anti-rape laws and review measures to ensure security for them, the father said "as long as the mindset of the society will not change, women can never be safe out on the roads."
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