India: All 4 convicts in Nirbhaya case to be hanged on January 22, Delhi court says

The four death row convicts are Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta

The four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case will be hanged on January 22 at 7am in Tihar jail, a Delhi court said on Tuesday.

Additional sessions judge Satish Kumar Arora who issued death warrants against them, pronounced the order.

The four death row convicts are Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta.

The court had on December 18 last year adjourned the hearing till January 8, 2020.

Nirbhaya's mother broke down at the news of the adjournment, asking: "The convicts have been given one more chance. Why are their rights being considered? What about our rights?"

Consoling her, the judge had said, "I have full sympathy with you. I know someone has died but there are their rights too. We are here to listen to you but are also bound by the law".

Earlier on that day, she had welcomed the Supreme Court decision to dismiss the plea filed by one of the four convicts in the case, seeking review of its 2017 judgment upholding his death penalty.

The victim’s mother had asked the convicts to be hanged on December 16, the day the medical student was raped in a moving bus in south Delhi in 2012.

"I will keep fighting for justice for my daughter and for the death penalty of those who snatched her from me. I want them to be hanged before December 16," she had told reporters.

The parents had also sought the court to direct Tihar jail authorities to expedite the execution of the rape convicts.

The 23-year-old paramedic student died on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

Source: The Telegraph and PTI, Staff, January 7, 2020

Delhi Court issues death warrant against four convicts to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am

A Delhi Court today issued death warrant against four convicts in Nirbhaya gang rape case. As per the warrant, convicts will be hanged on January 22 at 7 am.

The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Arora pursuant to a plea by Nirbhaya’s parents to expedite their execution.

On December 16, 2012, six men in Delhi had brutally gang-raped a young woman, later named ‘Nirbhaya’, in a moving bus. The victim succumbed to her injuries two weeks later at a hospital in Singapore. The six accused were apprehended by the police.

Of the six accused, the main accused committed suicide in Tihar jail during the course of the trial and the juvenile accused was sentenced to three years in a remand home upon conviction.

The remaining four were handed a death penalty by the Additional Sessions Judge.

The four convicts had then approached the Delhi High Court in appeal. After the High Court upheld the lower court verdict, the Supreme Court too upheld the death penalty in May 2017.

In July 2018, theSupreme Court dismissed review petitions filed by three of the accused i.e Mukesh, Vinay and Pawan.

The fourth convict, Akshay's review petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court in December last year.

Amicus Curiae Vrinda Grover today informed the Court that two accused, Mukesh and Vinay were desirous of filing a curative petition in the matter.

Counsel appearing for State, Prosecutors Irfan Ahmed and Rajeev Mohan today argued that nothing prevented the Court from issuing the death warrant since neither any petition nor a mercy plea before the President was pending.

Even after an execution warrant was issued, it could be stayed subsequently if any legal remedy was preferred, it was argued.

Counsel for Nirbhaya's parents, Advocate Jitendra Jha also raised concerns of delay in the case and urged the Court to issue an execution warrant.

Source: barandbench.com, Aditi Singh, Jan 7, 2020

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