The pending release — slated for next month — of the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya gangrape case has opened old wounds

The juvenile convict in the infamous Delhi gangrape of Nirbhaya on December 16, 2012, is due for release next month after serving his three-year sentence opening up old wounds and old debates.

The convict, now 20 years, old was a juvenile in 2012 when the crime was committed, and the court found him guilty of raping and assaulting the victim along with five accomplices — among whom main accused 35-year-old Ram Singh was found dead in his Tihar jail cell in 2013 — in a private moving bus in Delhi.

Nirbhaya’s mother told CNN-IBN that allowing the 20-year-old from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh to leave the reform home ‘sends out a wrong message’. “Juveniles will now think they can do whatever they want, and get away with it,” she added. PTI quoted her as asking, “But did he reform? Thousands of girls are being raped across the country. What has changed?”

Making a strong plea to the government to ensure he remained in custody, in jail if not in a juvenile home, while being tried (it is not clear what she meant because he was tried and sentenced by a juvenile court), Nirbhaya’s mother said: “They say that his rights as a juvenile have to protected. What about us? Are we not citizens, don’t we have rights? And what about Nirbhaya’s rights? Doesn’t she deserve justice? Don’t we deserve justice? I appeal to the government to not allow this to happen. If he roams free we will be sending a wrong message to others."

Meanwhile, Nirbhaya’s father is quoted by PTI as warning that “He may go out and commit another crime and if he does, it will be due to shortcomings on the government's part”.

This is a concern that does not appear to be lost on Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, who advocated the need to keep a ‘close watch’ on the youth. “He is a person who should be kept under watch. We can't just let him go and wait for him to do something else,” she cautioned.

However, Gandhi also added that justice should not be confused with the law. “The law said that he could only go to children’s home. That's the anomaly we are trying to correct. So, he served his sentence and in according to the law he is coming out. And there is nothing we can do about it until or unless he commits another crime.”

Amid reports that the convicted juvenile has become a model inmate — offering namaaz five times a day and fasting during Ramzan — who is afraid of being ‘lynched’ upon his release, major questions about whether the process of reform is truly complete have been raised. This debate is likely to intensify over the days leading up to the end of his sentence.

Here are some reactions from the Twitterati:

The Rapist of Nirbhaya should not be set free!! #LawVsJustice — richa anirudh (@richaanirudh) November 2, 2015

He may have been a minor by age but he is a monster of indescribable proportion. He should have been hanged! #NirbhayaRapist — leonard daranjo (@leonarddaranjo) November 1, 2015

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. The juvenile accused of #Nirbhaya case to be set free. #ManekaGandhi Any human who can rape/kill is hardly juvenile. — Lady India (@LadyBharat) November 2, 2015