'Justice delayed but not denied', says Asha Devi after hanging, dedicates day to India's daughters

After the four death row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case of Nirbhaya were hanged at Tihar Jail here, Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi dedicated the day to the daughters of the country stating "justice delayed but not denied."

"Finally they have been hanged, it was a long struggle. Today we got justice. This day is dedicated to the daughters of the country. I thank the judiciary and government," Asha Devi told media persons here.

"Our daughter is no more and won't return. We started this fight after she left us. This struggle was for her but we will continue this fight in future for our daughters. I hugged my daughter's picture and said 'finally you got justice'," she added.

The four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case were hanged to death at 5:30 a.m. in Delhi's Tihar jail today bringing the curtains down on the drama surrounding the execution that saw the death warrants cancelled thrice on various grounds over the last two-and-a-half months.

Sandeep Goel, DGP (Prisons), confirmed that all four were hanged at 5:30am today.

The hanging was carried out as per schedule this morning after a three-judge Supreme Court bench rejected the final plea by the convicts' lawyer AP Singh to stay their execution in a late-night hearing.

The four convicts, along with two others including Ram Singh and a juvenile, had raped and brutally tortured a 23-year-old paramedic student on a moving bus in south Delhi on the night of December 16, 2012. The victim died a few days later after battling for life at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital and later at a Singapore hospital.

The case had created an uproar across the country, especially in Delhi where a large number of people came out on the streets, demanding justice for the victim, who was renamed as 'Nirbhaya' or the fearless.