Nirbhaya case: convict Vinay Sharma’s mercy plea rejected by President, but no hanging before Feb 15
President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy plea by Nirbhaya case convict Vinay Sharma. Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Singh and Vinay Sharma – four convicts in the case – were to be executed on February 1, at 6 am, as per the death warrant issued. However, hours before they were to be hanged, the Delhi High Court deferred their hanging until further orders. The court, noting that a decision had not yet been made on Vinay Sharma’s mercy plea, had deferred it.
A gap of 14 days is mandatory from the time of rejection of the mercy petition before the President and the execution of the death sentence. Therefore, this means that the earliest the four can be hanged will be February 15.
Earlier, Pawan Gupta’s claim of being a minor in 2012 at the time of the incident was already dismissed by the court twice. Mukesh Singh, another convict, had moved Supreme Court last week challenging the rejection of his mercy plea by the President of India. Mukesh’s mercy plea had been rejected by the President on January 17.
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.
The four were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict was confirmed by Delhi High Court in 2014 and upheld by Supreme Court in 2017. Their review policies were dismissed too.
Many social workers are against death sentence, many of whom have written to the President of India to stop the hanging, urging the government focus on reforming culprits instead.
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