New Delhi: A Delhi court issued Thursday fresh death warrants for the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder convicts Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31). They will now be hanged March 20 at 6.00am in Tihar jail. The four have exhausted all their petitions for mercy and there is no option left for them.
Pawan however, still has the option to challenge the rejection of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind in the Supreme Court. The convicts have time and again through their lawyers have stalled their executions. It now remains to be seen whether they again find a way to stall their hangings.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana fixed March 20 as the new date of execution after it was told by the Delhi government that the convicts have exhausted all their legal remedies.
The lawyer for the four death row convicts also told the court that there was no legal impediment for court in proceeding to fix the date of execution.
Meanwhile reacting to the new date of execution, Nirbhaya’s mother said that the morning of March 20 will be the best morning in their lives. “Before her death Nirbhaya had asked us to ensure that the four get such punishment that such crimes are not repeated ever,” she said. “If possible I would also like to see them die,” she added.
Details to follow
Agencies