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What happened later shook the entire nation, it sparked off widespread protests and led many women to break their silence over sexual violence that goes generally unreported in the country. The night of 16th December, not only did it wake up an ignited fire in every citizen to fight against the evils of the society but to seek justice for every woman who underwent through such ordeals.
There was a lot of communal outrage due to this hideous incident. There were a lot of candle light marches, solidarity movements and protests. Immediately after the news was broadcasted nation-wide about the gang rape, protests erupted in Delhi and all over the country. The public in Delhi was so driven-up by the tragedy that police resorted to tear gas to control the crowds. In the initial weeks, “Hang the rapists” was the vociferous cry of the Indian media. Nothing less than capital punishment would assuage the collective horror and anger of the populace because they believe that existence of such perpetrators won’t bring any good to society, especially after the horrible act they have committed. The perpetrators were considered as mentally ill (criminals) and therefore should not be allowed to live in the society where they can bring harm to more women. The Indian government has a long path to give justice to the criminals but at this stage the entire nation was wanting with the instant death penalty of the perpetrators.
The outrage was not only restricted within the boundaries of India, but the whole world. A British documentary called “India’s Daughter” was restricted to be released in India by the central government because it portrayed India in a very derogatory and poor light. But wasn’t it the truth? Leslee Udwin the director of the documentary based on Nirbhaya’s ordeal recollected some parts in her interview with one of the accuser Mukesh Singh who stated “When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they’d have dropped her off after ‘doing her’, and only hit the boy” he said.
Chillingly, he went on: “The death penalty will make things even more dangerous for girls. Now when they rape, they won’t leave the girl like we did. They will kill her. Before, they would rape and say, ‘Leave her, she won’t tell anyone.’ Now when they rape, especially the criminal types, they will just kill the girl. Death.”
Feminist and women’s movements gained energy and spur. The culprits were made an example of and were denounced. Not just social, there were legal consequences of the incident too. The ruling government was pressurized to make stricter laws regarding rape as well other sexual offences (such as marital sexual offence) and also dealing with juveniles committing heinous crimes and the protest went on.