Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the curative petitions filed by two convicts, on death row, in the Nirbhaya case, the victim’s mother on Tuesday exuded confidence that the four convicts will be hanged and January 22.
Delhi gangrape victim’s mother Asha Devi said she is hopeful that the curative petition of the two convicts in the case will be dismissed.
“They (convicts) have filed a petition (curative plea) before the Supreme Court just to stall the process. I am very hopeful that their petition will be rejected today. They will be hanged on 22nd January and Nirbhaya will get justice,” Asha Devi was quoted as saying by ANI.
A five-judge bench comprising Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, Rohinton Fali Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan will hear the curative petitions filed by Vinay Sharma and Mukesh, who moved the apex court on January 9.
Delhi’s Patiala House Court had on January 7 issued death warrants against all the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case.
Akshay Thakur Singh, Mukesh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma, who were found guilty in the rape and murder of a Delhi medical student, will be hanged at 7 am on January 22.
While issuing death warrants, the trial court observed that “despite being afforded sufficient time and opportunity”, the convicts didn’t exercise their legal remedies.
Vinay Sharma, in his curative petition before the Supreme Court, had said his entire family suffered due to the criminal proceedings.
“The petitioner is not the only person being punished, his entire family has suffered greatly as a result of the criminal proceedings. The family faced societal wrath and humiliation for no fault of theirs.
“The petitioner’s parents are old and extremely poor. The case has been a huge drain on their resources and now they are left almost empty-handed,” stated the curative petition filed through senior advocate Adhis C Aggarwala and Advocate AP Singh.
The Supreme Court has already confirmed death penalty for all the four convicts. The court found no merit in conducting the review and upheld the capital punishment given by the trial court and confirmed by the Delhi High Court in the case.
One of the accused in the case, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide at Tihar Jail in Delhi.
A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.
A 23-year-old paramedic student, who came to be known as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a running bus in south Delhi by six persons and severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road. She succumbed to injuries on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.