23-Year-Old Girl was Gang-Raped: Nirbhaya Gangrape Convicts Won’t Be Hanged On February 1, Says Delhi Court
Hours before the convicts to hang, the four Nirbhaya gangrape case convicts extracted another last-minute reprieve as a Delhi court postponed their execution indefinitely.
Convicts Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Singh and Vinay Sharma will not be hanged until further court orders. Their death sentence has already been put off once in a haze of review, curative, and mercy petitions.“Death warrant has been cancelled and no new date has been given,” said AP Singh, the lawyer of one of the convicts.
A new petition was filed before the Supreme Court today and rejected. Pawan Gupta’s claim of being a minor at the time of the 2012 gang-rape and killing was dismissed by the Supreme Court for the second time in two weeks.
He had asked the court to review its decision last week, even though he had been told that once rejected, an age claim cannot be contested repeatedly.
But it is the mercy petition filed by convict Vinay Sharma that secured today’s reprieve. Even if the President rejects it today, the convict has to be given 14 days till execution, as per the rules.
It is to be mentioned that the 23-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered by six men on a moving bus on December 16, 2012. The main accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail during the trial. Another accused was a minor at the time of the commission of the crime and was sent to a reform facility and released after 3 years.
Convicts Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Singh and Vinay Sharma will not be hanged until further court orders. Their death sentence has already been put off once in a haze of review, curative, and mercy petitions.“Death warrant has been cancelled and no new date has been given,” said AP Singh, the lawyer of one of the convicts.
A new petition was filed before the Supreme Court today and rejected. Pawan Gupta’s claim of being a minor at the time of the 2012 gang-rape and killing was dismissed by the Supreme Court for the second time in two weeks.
He had asked the court to review its decision last week, even though he had been told that once rejected, an age claim cannot be contested repeatedly.
But it is the mercy petition filed by convict Vinay Sharma that secured today’s reprieve. Even if the President rejects it today, the convict has to be given 14 days till execution, as per the rules.
It is to be mentioned that the 23-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered by six men on a moving bus on December 16, 2012. The main accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail during the trial. Another accused was a minor at the time of the commission of the crime and was sent to a reform facility and released after 3 years.