Nirbhaya rapist interview row: Parents of victim condemn convict's comments

New Delhi: The parents of the December 16 gangrape victim on Tuesday expressed anger over the comments by one of the convicts in a media interview saying these were "shameful" and appealed to the government to hang him.

"The comments are shameful and mockery of the law," the girl's mother told PTI and asked the authorities to take legal action against Mukesh Singh, the driver of the bus in which the 23-year-old paramedical student was brutally gangraped by six men on December 16, 2012.

In the interview conducted by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin and BBC, Singh said women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of gangs of male molesters.

"A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he had said. Singh also said that had the girl and her friend not tried to fight back, the gang would not have inflicted the savage beating, which led to her death later.

Read: Delhi gangrape: Lawyers too speak convict Mukesh Singh's voice

The victim's mother said the crime against women is increasing because of the mindset that women should not go out at night. "It is not a big thing for the accused to pass a statement like this. One who is jailed for such heinous crime can pass a statement on anybody. The situation of crime against women in the country is rising because of people opposing women to go out at night," the victim's mother said.

"Those who advocate that rape accused should not be hanged, have not gone through this. If rape accused are not hanged then it will be very unfortunate for women. I appeal to the government that all rape accused should be hanged," she said.

Read: Nirbhaya rapist interview row: Rajnath Singh intervenes, seeks report from Tihar jail

Equally critical of Singh's remarks, the girl's father said: "We cannot punish anyone. If I had to punish then I would have given the same punishment they gave it to my daughter. But we have law which will decide his fate."

"This is just not about my daughter, with his statement he has raised question on our society. If he is not hanged then anyone can rape a woman, causing a threat to the future of the country. I will contact the government and appeal to it to hang him," he said.

Singh's death sentence is currently on appeal. The girl's friend was battered with an iron rod, which was later used to torture her. The couple were then thrown from the bus. The victim succumbed to her injuries 13 days later at a Singapore hospital.