Nirbhaya convicts' execution on March 20; fourth death warrant issued
A Delhi court on Thursday issued fresh death warrants against the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case. They will now be hanged on March 20. The development comes three days after the hanging of the four convicts was postponed "until further orders" in light of a last-minute mercy petition filed by one of the convicts. Here are more details.
Convicts to be hanged on March 20 at 5:30 am
As per the fresh death warrants, the four convicts—Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31)—will be hanged at 5:30 am on March 20. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana fixed the new execution date after the court was informed by the Delhi government that the convicts had exhausted all legal remedies available to them.
Hope they will be hanged on designated date: Victim's mother
Reacting to the development, the mother of the rape victim, Asha Devi, told ANI, "Since the four convicts have exhausted all the legal remedies, I hope that they will be hanged till death on the designated date." The lawyer of the rape victim's parents, Seema Khushwaha, had also earlier clarified that the execution date fixed now would not be postponed further.
Convicts' execution has been postponed thrice since January
Incidentally, this is the fourth time that a death warrant has been issued against the convicts. Their execution was originally scheduled for January 22. However, it was stalled after Mukesh filed a mercy plea before President Ram Nath Kovind. The execution was moved to February 1, however, it was postponed after Vinay appealed the President for mercy. It was then scheduled for March 3.
March 3 execution deferred after Pawan's last-minute mercy plea
On March 2 (Monday)—a day before the scheduled execution—Pawan filed a curative plea before the Supreme Court. He had also moved a Delhi court seeking a stay on his execution. Although the court initially refused to stay the execution, Pawan filed a last-minute mercy plea before the President after the SC rejected his curative plea. The court was then compelled to stay the execution.
What was the Nirbhaya rape case?
The four convicts, and two others, raped a 23-year-old student (dubbed "Nirbhaya") on a moving bus on December 16, 2012. The convicts penetrated her with iron rods, inflicting grave injuries, and the victim died two weeks later during treatment. The fifth accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in prison in 2013. The sixth accused—a juvenile—was sent to a reformation home and was later released.
