Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Saturday dismissed the petition of death-row convict in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, Vinay Sharma, seeking direction to provide high-level medical treatment to him.
During the hearing, the court observed that “general anxiety and depression in case of a death row convict is obvious”.
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“In the case at hand, evidently, adequate medical treatment and psychological help have been provided to the condemned convict,’ it said.
Earlier in the day, Tihar jail authorities had told the trial court that the injuries sustained by death-row convict, Vinay Sharma, are “self-inflicted and superficial”.
“Convict is under control, injuries are self-inflicted and superficial. Radiologist conducted an X-ray and found that convict did not sustain any fracture,” Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmad told the Patiala House Court.
The authorities also submitted a CD containing CCTV footage of Vinay banging his head against the wall. “The medical call made by the convict was false. Doctors have been conducting examination of all the convicts and report is sent to DG (Prison) daily,” he said.
Ahmad further added that there is no medical history of mental instability of convict Vinay Sharma as claimed by the convict’s counsel AP Singh.
The Public Prosecutor further denied the convict’s claims that he cannot recognise his mother. He stated that the convict Vinay Sharma had made two phone calls recently to his mother and lawyer.
“So why is his lawyer claiming that he is not even in the position to identify his mother also?” Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmad asked.
Vinay’s psychiatry report was also submitted to the court.
The Patiala House Court had on Thursday issued a notice to Tihar jail after Vinay Sharma moved the court seeking direction to the prison authorities to provide high-level medical treatment to him.
The application, moved through his lawyer AP Singh, mentioned that Vinay Sharma, 26, sustained a grievous head injury, fracture in the right arm and suffers from mental illness and schizophrenia. It has further asked the court to refer the convict to the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in Delhi.
His lawyer also claimed that the convict has been unable to recognise people, including his mother.
Vinay had attempted to hurt himself by banging his head against a wall in his cell, on February 16 following which he received minor injuries. A security personnel reportedly saw him and stopped him.
Vinay has exhausted all his legal remedies.
The four convicts — Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur Singh and Pawan Gupta — are to be hanged at 6 am on March 3 after a trial court on Monday issued a fresh death warrant, the third one in less than two months.
The 23-year-old woman, who came to be known as Nirbhaya, was gangraped and tortured on December 16, 2012, in a moving bus which led to her death. All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.
