Don't feel like voting: Nirbhaya's parents
April 25, 2019 16:15
As campaigning picks up steam in Delhi with leaders motivating people to exercise their franchise, Asha Devi and Badri Nath Singh, the parents of the woman who was gangraped and killed and came to be known as Nirbhaya, say they might not vote this time at all.
The couple, the face of courage in the face of impossible odds, said they are tired of parties promising them justice and doing nothing about it.
The sympathy expressed by the parties and their promises have been just a "political gimmick" as the culprits are still alive, said the parents of the paramedic student who was gangraped on the night of December 16, 2012, and died of her grievous injuries 11 days later in a Singapore hospital.
The streets, the couple added, continue to be unsafe for the city's women and children.
Successive governments have not done enough to implement measures for the safety of women and children who continue to be "victims of bestiality", they alleged.
"CCTV cameras are yet to be installed... the country is still unsafe, mothers still worry till their daughters return home.
"People have no faith in the system. All the governments have failed us. I don't feel like voting for any party this time," Asha Devi told PTI.
It has been seven years since her daughter was raped and murdered brutally but the judgement of the death sentence is yet to be implemented, she said.
"Nothing has changed. This time I don't even feel like going to cast my ballot. My faith in the system has been shaken," said her husband.
"All parties talk about women's dignity and empowerment but have no road map and they lack the will to do what they promise. At the end of the day, it remains only our pain, our struggle, our battle and our helplessness," he added.
Dispirited and cynical, Nath said elections give political parties the opportunity to come up with "hollow" promises. They mislead people for their own interests and put the promises in cold storage, the still grieving father added.
TOP STORIES
© 2024 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances