New Delhi: Of the four men on death row in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, the youngest, Vinay Sharma, looks the most anxious and is often seen walking restlessly inside his cell, sources in Tihar Jail said Wednesday. He is yet to file a curative petition or mercy plea to the President.
The 26-year-old is also the one who has received the maximum punishment for violating rules, the sources in the jail, where the convicts have been kept for seven years.
The four – Vinay, Akshay Kumar Singh (31), Mukesh Kumar Singh (32) and Pawan Gupta (25) – were scheduled to be hanged January 22. But then it may change as one of the four, Mukesh, has filed a mercy plea.
Vinay, who took painting lessons in jail, has received 11 ‘punishments’ for not following rules, Pawan eight, Mukesh three and Akshay one during their seven years in Tihar. The punishment could range from curtailing visiting rights from family for a small fight to changing the barracks for a bigger, more serious fight, the sources explained.
Jail authorities have been daily holding conversations with the convicts to ensure they are in a good mental state.
The convicts have not named the beneficiary of their daily wages earned for basic, everyday jobs done in the jail. The amount will be handed over to their family in case they do not finalise the name, the jail sources.
Vinay has earned Rs 39,000, Akshay Rs 69,000 and Pawan Rs 29,000 while Mukesh did not involve himself in any work, they said.
In 2015, Vinay took admission in a one-year bachelor’s degree programme which he could not complete. Mukesh, Pawan and Akshay took admission in Class 10 in 2016, and appeared for the exam but could not pass.
The family of all the four convicts is allowed to meet them twice a week. Vinay’s father came to meet him on Tuesday and Mukesh’s mother also keeps visiting him, an official said. Pawan’s family members last met him January 7.
However, Akshay’s wife last came to meet him in November and he has had no visitors from the family since the pronouncement of the execution date. However, he regularly speaks to his wife over phone, a jail official added.
Jail authorities have asked the four convicts when they would want to meet their families one last time before the execution but none of them has responded yet.
A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7. The Supreme Court had Tuesday dismissed the curative pleas of Mukesh and Vinay.
The four men are convicted for savagely raping a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as Nirbhaya. Her injuries were so brutal that she died in a Singapore hospital later.
PNN & Agencies