Nirbhaya gangrape case: Timeline of the horrific incident that shook the nation

Written By RNA | Updated: May 05, 2017, 02:37 PM IST

Nirbhaya's parents

From the horrific night of December 16, 2012 to Supreme Court order:

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld death penalty to the four convicts of the December 16 Nirbhaya gang rape case.

The mattern was heard by the apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra and consisting of Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan. The convicts - Akshay, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh, had challenged the Delhi High Court order which had sentenced them to the gallows. But, the apex court refused to provide relief to them.

Here's how the events unfolded:

December 16, 2012	A 23-year-old paramedical student is gang-raped, assaulted brutally by six men inside a moving bus and her semi-naked body is dumped on the Mahipalpur road in Delhi. The girl was traveling at around 9 pm to Dwarka from Munirka with her male friend after watching a movie at a mall in Saket. Her friend, who hails from Gorakhpur, was also assaulted & dumped. The girl student from Dehradun was in Delhi for her internship.
December 17, 2012	Doctors said the girl has suffered severe internal injuries as she was brutally attacked by the men with an iron rod.
December 18, 2012	Delhi police arrest four men out of six and remand them in police custody for five days. The accused are bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, assistant gym instructor Vinay Sharma and fruit-seller Pawan Gupta. The other two are absconding.
December 18, 2012	There are protests across the country condemning the incident. Leaders in both houses of the Parliament express dismay at the incident and urge the government to ensure the safety of women apart from awarding capital punishment to the perpetrators. Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan breaks down in the Rajya Sabha.
December 18, 2012	SN Makwana of Safdarjung hospital where the girl is admitted for treatment says that the girl is critical.
December 19, 2012	The gang rape and near-fatal beating of the 23-year-old student triggers outrage and anger across the country as people demand stringent and swift punishment against those attacking women, including a proposal to make rapists eligible for the death penalty.
December 19, 2012	Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital remove almost all her intestines. She is kept on ventilator.
December 19, 2012	The Delhi police detain fifth person, Akshay Thakur, in Bihar in connection with the rape and assault. Of the four arrested, Vinay Sharma speaks before a Delhi court, asks to be hanged.
December 19, 2012	Taking suo-motu cognisance of this case, the Delhi High Court asks police commissioner of Delhi Neeraj Kumar to file the status report in two days.
December 19, 2012	Bowing to the pressure from fellow MPs, Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde announces in Parliament that the government will constitute a special investigation team (SIT) under a deputy commissioner of police (DCP) to fast track the case.
December 19, 2012	Doctors operate upon her to remove almost all of her intestines to prevent gangrene.
December 20, 2012	BD Athani, medical superintendent of Safdarjung hospital says that the victim is attempting to breathe on her own and is conscious and stable.
December 20, 2012	Mukesh, one of the accused in the case is beaten up by inmates of Tihar jail where he is lodged.
December 21, 2012	The girl is off the ventilator and breathing on her own.
December 21, 2012	She gives a "fearless & bold" statement before Sub-divisional Magistrate, Usha Chaturvedi. She wants her tormentors to be swiftly brought to justice. Delhi police say her statement corroborates with the version of her mail friend.
December 21, 2012	Rage spreads rapidly through the capital and in many cities in the country. Students, activists and people in general gather at various places to protest the heinous crime. The protests literally reach president Pranab Mukherjee’s doorstep with angry demonstrators going right up till the gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Hundreds of protesters reached 10 Janpath, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s official residence and hold candle march and noisy protests.
	Delhi police arrest one more accused, who claims that he is a juvenile.
December 21, 2012	The Delhi high court slams the Delhi Police for being evasive in its probe status report and in providing details of its officers on patrol duty in the area covered by the bus.
December 22, 2012	Her WBC count increases and she starts breathing on her own. She has water and sips of apple juice.
December 22, 2012	Protesters who gathered near Rashtrapati Bhavan to demand justice for the girl were given a reply by the government in the form of lathi charges, tear gas and water cannons in Delhi. The brutal police action injures 400 people.
December 22, 2012	Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde after holding an emergency meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh announces immediate steps to amend the criminal law for enhanced and more effective punishment in the rarest of rare cases of sexual assault and setting up a commission of inquiry to review responses to the shocking crime.
December 23, 2012	The girl is put back on the ventilator and her condition is said to be critical though she is conscious and communicating.
December 23, 2012	Protesters fought pitched battles with the police near Vijay Chowk and the India Gate. There are incidents of stone pelting and fires being lit, forcing the police to lathi charge the protesters. A police constable, Subhash Tomar and hundreds of others are seriously injured.
December 23, 2012	A fast track court is set up by Delhi High Court.
December 24, 2012	Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the nation and says the government will examine without delay all aspects concerning the safety of women and children and punishment for those who commit these monstrous crimes. His "thik hai?" comment at the end which remained unedited on air sets of a furor
December 24, 2012	The girl’s condition deteriorates as she develops a tendency for internal bleeding and reduced capacity for coagulation. She remains on ventilator after undergoing three surgeries in eight days.
December 24, 2012	The government suspends two assistant commissioners of police (ACP) and seeks explanation from two deputy commissioners holding them responsible for failing to prevent the gang rape.
December 25, 2012	Delhi police constable Subhash Tomar who suffered injuries during a protest at India Gate dies of cardiac arrest.
December 25, 2012	Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit dashes off a letter to the union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde along with the letter of the sub divisional magistrate (SDM), which says the Delhi Police tried to influence the girl's statement.
December 25, 2012	Hours after the complaint by Sheila Dikshit the girl was made to record her statement again in front of Metropolitan Magistrate, drawing objections from the medical fraternity. Police said the step was necessary as they did not wish to get into a legal tussle later.
December 26, 2012	Patient X suffers cardiac arrest. She was revived after administration of cardiac pulmonary resuscitation. But doctors do not issue a medical bulletin. Later at night, she is air lifted to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
December 26, 2012	A Commission of Inquiry headed by a former Delhi High Court judge to go into the gang rape incident is set up by the Centre which also orders a probe into allegations of police interference in recording the girl’s statement.
December 27, 2012	President Pranab Mukherjee’s politician-son, Abhijit Mukherjee while talking to a Bengali channel says that those women participating in the stir against the rape were all “highly dented-painted” women who were “hardly students”. He faces severe criticism for his insensitive remark about the young women agitators.
December 27, 2012	Patient X's BP drops alarmingly mid-air. Doctors create arterial line to closely monitor BP, and manage to stabilise her. Cardiac arrest, BP drop are known risks of air travel. Her ejection factor, which indicates how well the heart is pumping, had dropped from 50% in India to 25% on arrival in Singapore.
December 28, 2012	Patient X suffers from multiple organ failure despite maximum ventilation support. Doctors admit that the cardiac arrest she suffered had caused severe brain damage. Liquid starts accumulating in her lungs, which cannot be drained because her platelet count is too low. The girl's condition deteriorates further. Doctors attending to her in the Singapore hospital announce that she is suffering from multiple organ failure and is 'extremely critical'.
December 29, 2012	The girl dies at Mt. Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore in the early hours at 4.45 am local time (2.15 am IST) after battling severe injuries for 13 days.
December 29, 2012	The Delhi police add the charge of murder against the six men accused of raping and torturing the 23-year-old paramedical student, who died in a Singapore hospital.
January 3, 2013	The Delhi police on files a 33-page charge sheet in a local court against five men arrested in the case. The five accused, Ram Singh, his brother, Mukesh, and their accomplices - Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur - are charge- sheeted under the IPC for murder, gang-rape, attempt to murder, kidnapping, unnatural offences, dacoity, hurting while committing robbery, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and acting with a common intent. Since the sixth accused claimed to be 17-and-a-half years old, proceedings against him will be conducted by the juvenile justice board.
January 7, 2013	Trial begins in fast track court. Private trial after public fury. Judge orders in-camera trial of gang rape case following commotion in court; disallows media from reporting it.
January 9, 2013	The Saken district judge upheld a district court's decision to restrict the media from covering the Delhi gang-rape case
January 28, 2013	JJB declares sixth accused a minor
February 2, 2013	Fast track court frames charges against five accused
February 5, 2013	Trial begins
March 10, 2013	The prime accused in the Delhi gang rape case, Ram Singh, 33 was found hanging under mysterious circumstances inside the Tihar jail. He was the driver of the bus in which a 23-year-old paramedical student was gang-raped on December 16, 2012.
June 4, 2013	The juvenile accused truned 18 in custody
August 22, 2013	Prosecution initiates final arguments
August 31, 2013	JJB holds minor guilty of rape and murder and confined him to a remand home for three years.
September 10, 2013	A special fast track court in Delhi hearing the case of the gang rape of a 23-year-old student in December last year held all accused men guilty of committing the "most brutal and inhuman act with the intention of causing death".
September 13, 2013	A special fast track court in Delhi sentenced to death Mukesh Singh, 26, Akshay Thakur, 28, Pawan Gupta, 19, and Vinay Sharma, 20
March 13, 2014	The Delhi High Court confirmed the death sentence of four men convicted by the lower court.
March 15, 2014	The Supreme Court on Saturday stayed the execution of two convicts — Mukesh and Pawan Gupta — till March 31, 2014
July 14, 2014	SC stayed the execution of two other convicts Akshay and Vinay Sharma till further decision taken by the court
September 2, 2015	The Delhi court awarded the jail term to Akshay Kumar Singh, Mukesh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma for the offences under various sections of the IPC, including sections 395 (dacoity) and 412 (dishonestly receiving stolen property knowing that it was obtained by dacoity). It also imposed a fine of Rs 1.01 lakh each on the four convicts. Four death row convicts in the December 16 gang rape and murder case were awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment in a separate robbery case
December 20, 2015	The juvenile on completing his sentence was released from the juvenile home.
April 3, 2016	Hearings begin in the SC
February 3, 2017	SC decides to re-hear the case on the sentencing aspect, after the petitioners contend that there have been violations in procedure.
May 5, 2017	SC upholds death sentence for the 4 convicts

(With agency inputs)