Nirbhaya Case: 3 convicts file petition to stay hanging, hearing on Thursday

Three out of the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case moved a Delhi court on Wednesday asking for a stay on their execution scheduled on Friday.
Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta said in their petition that a mercy plea by one of them is pending with the President of India and urged for staying the execution on that ground. The fourth convict is Mukesh Singh.
The petition referred to Akshay’s second mercy plea which was filed on Tuesday after his first mercy plea was rejected by the President weeks ago. Pawan too filed another curative plea opposing the rejection of his review plea on his claim that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime.
The petition also cited that the four convicts had a number of petitions pending with various courts along with the divorce petition of Akshay’s wife filed in a court of Bihar. It thus urged the court to stay the execution as time is needed to decide on the pending petitions.
The court asked the convicts’ counsel AP Singh why he filed a petition with one day left for execution.
The matter will be taken up for hearing on Thursday. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana has asked Tihar Jail officials – where the convicts are kept – and Delhi Police to submit their responses in the matter.
Six persons were arrested and charged with rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi in 2012, which came to be known as the Nirbhaya case. One of the accused was a minor and was tried in the juvenile justice court. He was released after three years. Another accused – Ram Singh – had allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

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