Four Nirbhaya convicts to hang tomorrow, Delhi Court rejects their petitions

NEW DELHI:All four men convicted of the gang-rape and killing of a young Delhi woman in 2012 will hang tomorrow morning as decided, a Delhi court said today. The Patiala House Court rejected all petitions of the convicts, Akshay Thakur, 31, Pawan Gupta, 25, Vinay Sharma, 26, and Mukesh Singh, 32, who are to hang at 5.30 am on Friday.

The convicts had requested that their execution be stopped, claiming that they still had legal remedies left.

"No legal remedies are pending as of now. Pawan and Akshay's second mercy was also not entertained by the President of India," Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmad told the court.

"My friend can move 100 applications, but these are not strictly legal remedies," he said.

In another manoeuvre to delay the death sentence, three death-row convicts, represented by advocate AP Singh, had petitioned the court saying their legal remedies were pending.

The Supreme Court also dismissed a petition filed by Mukesh Singh challenging a Delhi High Court's order rejecting his claim that he was not in Delhi when the crime was committed.

Three previous dates of hanging passed as the convicts filed petition after petition to stall their execution.

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old was brutally assaulted and tortured in a moving bus and dumped on the road, by six people including a juvenile. The woman died a few days later.

There was much drama outside the court when a convict's wife, who has sought a divorce, fainted outside the Patiala House court complex.

Courtesy: NDTV