A Delhi Court on Friday deferred the hanging of four convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case till further orders which was scheduled for tomorrow at 6 am.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had rejected one of the convicts Pawan Gupta’s claim of being a minor in 2012 when the brutal incident happened. This was the second time in two weeks that the court had rejected Gupta’s claim of being a minor.
In his petition, he asked the apex court to review its decision, even though he had been told that once rejected, an age claim cannot be contested repeatedly.
Reacting on the Court’s decision, Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi said that the convicts’ advocate challenged her by saying that they will never be executed. “AP Singh has challenged me saying that the convicts will never be executed. I will continue my fight.”
“The government will have to execute the convicts,” she added.
There were multiple petitions filed in the court after the decision of hanging the four convicts was delivered by a Delhi Court.
As per the reports, a hangman had also arrived yesterday at Tihar jail in Delhi for the execution which was scheduled for 6 am tomorrow.
In order to stall the hearing, apart from the curative petition filed in the apex court, a mercy request has been filed before the President and a plea at a lower court in Delhi asking for the execution to be paused.
As reported by NDTV, the Supreme Court today agreed to consider rules that were more considerate towards the victim. Court’s response came on the government’s petition on January 22 seeking change in the rules to prevent convicts from playing with the law.
The government had suggested a time limit for the convicts to use their legal options.
However, on Wednesday the apex court had also dismissed a petition of the convicts in which they challenged the rejection of his mercy plea by President.
The brutal gangrape and murder case in which the four convicts are sentenced is of December 16, 2012, when a paramedic student was brutally gangraped by a group of five men on a moving bus. The sixth convict was a juvenile. Later the victim succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.