'It is never too late', the saying seems to contradict with 'Justice Delayed Justice Denied', however the hanging of four rape and murder convicts give a sense of relief to every Indian especially women who stand for justice.
The four men convicted of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder were hanged early this morning at Delhi's Tihar Jail. The four were hanged simultaneously at 5:30 am, more than seven years after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student that prompted nationwide protests.
However, justice served to Nirbhaya took 7 years. Here is the timeline of how it occurred:
2012:
December 16: Nirbhaya and her male friend board a bus from Delhi's Munerka bus stand. Six men, including a juvenile, thrashed the male friend and gang-raped the victim on the moving bus before throwing both of them out near Aerocity.
December 18-22: Delhi Police arrest all six suspects
December 29: Nirbhaya fights to fatal internal injuries caused as a result of the rape
2013:
March 11: Suspect Ram Singh commits suicide in Tihar Jail
September 1: Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) sends the juvenile to a correction home for three years
September 13: Fast Track Court (FTC) awards death penalty to all four convicts
2014:
March 13: Delhi High Court upholds death penalty
2017:
May 5: Supreme Court upholds death penalty
November 8: Mukesh files review petition in SC
December 15: Vinay and Pawan move SC for review of its verdict
2018:
July 9: SC dismisses review pleas of Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay
2019:
February: Nirbhaya's parents move trial court for issuance of death warrants of the four convicts
December 10: Akshay moves plea in SC seeking review of his death penalty
December 13: Nirbhaya's mother moves SC opposing review plea of Akshay
December 18: SC dismisses Akshay's review plea
December 19: Delhi HC dismisses plea of Pawan claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the offence
2020:
January 7: Trial court signs death 'black' warrants for all four convicts to hang on January 22, 2020 (7 am)
January 14: SC rejects curative petition of Vinay and Mukesh; Mukesh files mercy petition before President
January 17: President Ram Nath Kovind rejects mercy plea of Mukesh; trial court issues death warrants again with execution date as February 1, 2020 (6 am)
January 25: Mukesh moves SC against the rejection of mercy plea
January 29: Akshay approaches SC with a curative petition; SC rejects plea of Mukesh challenging rejection of his mercy plea
January 30: SC dismisses curative plea of Akshay
January 31: SC dismisses plea filed by Pawan seeking review of its order rejecting his juvenility claim; trial court postpones execution of the black warrants till further order for a second time
February 1: Centre moves Delhi HC against the trial court order
February 5: Delhi HC dismisses Centre's plea against the trial court order, says all four convicts have to be hanged together; it further directs the convicts to pursue all legal remedies within a week, failing which the authorities ordered to take action in accordance with law; President rejects mercy petition of Akshay
February 6: President rejects mercy petition of Akshay
February 7: Trial court dismisses Tihar's plea seeking fresh date for execution of convicts
February 11: Vinay moves SC against mercy plea rejection; SC issues notices to all four death row convicts on Centre's appeal against Delhi HC verdict
February 13: Vinay alleges torture in jail, SC reserves order on his mercy review; SC defers hearing on separate hangings and appoints a new lawyer for Pawan
February 14: SC dismisses Vinay's plea against no mercy, rejects the argument of mental illness
February 17: Trial court issues March 3 execution date
February 22: Trial court dismisses Vinay's plea for medical treatment
February 28: Pawan files curative petition in SC
March 2: SC dismisses PIL seeking direction on organ donation by the four death row convicts; Patiala House court dismisses plea by convicts for a stay on death warrant; Pawan files mercy plea after the rejection of the curative petition by SC a day before scheduled hanging
March 3: For the third time, trial court defers hanging of the four death row convicts
March 4: Delhi government moves court seeking fresh date for execution for convicts; Pawan's mercy plea rejected
March 5, 2020: Trial court signs death warrants for March 20 (5:30 am)
March 7: SC rejects Mukesh's plea seeking urgent hearing on Monday
March 13: Vinay moves Delhi HC claiming procedural lapse in mercy plea rejection
March 16: Convicts move International Court of Justice (ICJ); SC dismisses Mukesh's plea to refile curative, mercy petition
March 17: Akshay writes a second mercy plea to the President after the first was rejected; trial court dismisses Mukesh's plea seeking quashing of the death penalty
March 18: Convicts' counsel AP Singh moves Delhi's Patiala House court seeking a stay on the death warrants on March 18; Delhi HC reserves order on Mukesh's plea claiming absence from Delhi at time of the incident
March 19: Supreme Court dismisses the petition of death row convict Pawan against the rejection of his mercy plea by the President and seeking a stay on execution; Delhi High Court dismisses plea challenging lower court's refusal to stay death warrants
March 20: Convicts hanged at 5:30 am, confirmed dead at 6:00 am