Nirbhaya case: Convicts will be hanged on March 20 at 5:30 am

NEW DELHI: The four convicts accused in Nirbhaya rape case will be hanged on March 20 at 5:30 am.

The new death warrant has been issued a day after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta.

It has taken more than 7 years for parents and well-wishers of Nirbhaya to finally arrive at this conclusion.

The convicts were about to be hanged on March 3 at 6 am.

The decision was then deferred as convict Pawan Kumar Gupta had filed a mercy plea before the President of India.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in the national capital in December 2012. Out of the four convicts, Pawan was the only one who has not yet availed of the remedy of either curative or mercy petitions, which will be the last judicial and constitutional resort available to him.

“Despite a stiff resistance from the victim’s side, I am of the opinion that any condemned convict must not meet his Creator with a grievance in his bosom that the courts of this country have not acted fairly in granting him an opportunity to exhaust his legal remedies,” Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana said.

“I am of the opinion that the death sentence cannot be executed pending the disposal of the mercy petition of the convict.

“It is hereby directed that the execution of death warrants against all the convicts scheduled for March 3 is deferred till further order,” he added.

During the course of proceedings, lawyers representing Nirbhaya’s family had said that the convicts are adopting “all kinds of delay tactics to avoid execution of death warrant”

In January 2020, senior lawyer Indira Jaising was slammed by many after she urged Asha Devi, Nirbhaya’s mother, to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who had pardoned her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s killer Nalini.

“While I fully identify with the pain of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn’t not want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against death penalty,” tweeted senior lawyer Indira Jaising.

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut slammed senior lawyer Indira Jaising for urging Asha Devi, Nirbhaya’s mother, to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who had pardoned her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s killer Nalini.

Ranaut who was promoting her film Panga said, “She should be kept in jail along with the convicts. How can these women pity the convicts? It is these kinds of women who give birth to such monsters.”

According to media reports, Ranaut insisted that the convicts should be hanged publicly to set an example.

She said, “A person who has committed such a gruesome crime should not be considered a minor. He should be hanged publicly to set an example. Nirbhaya’s parents are fighting this battle for a long time. Killing the convict quietly will be of no use as you won’t be able to set an example.”

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