One of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case, Akshay Singh, moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking a review of its 2017 judgement which had upheld the death penalty to all four accused in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.
Akshay Singh, in a bizarre argument, has asked Supreme Court to spare him the death penalty since life in Delhi is anyway getting ‘short’ due to air and water pollution. Singh’s petition which brings up points of law arguing that Akshay was incorrectly convicted and talks about capital punishment being abolished in various countries, at one point ridiculously brings up Delhi’s air and water quality, arguing that people in Delhi are anyways dying due to the poor air and water quality, so there wasn’t any need for a capital punishment.
“That it is important to pertain here that Air Quality of Delhi NCR and the metro city is burst and like a gas chamber… the water of Delhi NCR and metro city is also full of poison… Everyone is aware of what is happening in Delhi NCR in regard to water and air,” the petition says before asking a simple question. “Life is going short to short, then why death penalty?”
Akshay Singh Thakur along with Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma were convicted in the brutal 2012 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old Delhi student, Nirbhaya. All four were awarded the death penalty and the punishment was upheld by the Supreme Court. A fifth convict had killed himself in jail during the trial phase while the sixth person involved in the crime was tried in a juvenile court.
Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma filed review petitions asking the Supreme Court to reconsider their convictions. The petitions were rejected. Akshay Singh, who had not filed the review plea earlier with the other three convicts, has now moved the apex court with the petition.
Read: Nirbhaya rape case convicts could be executed soon, handed notice: Tihar Superintendent
Delhi student Nirbhaya was brutally raped in the most barbaric manner inside a moving bus and was left to die on the road on December 16, 2012. She was later sent for treatment to Singapore but had succumbed to her injuries. The case had generated widespread public outrage both nationally and internationally and has made a huge impact in the psyche of the nation.
The case made a profound impact on the Indian legal system and led to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, known as the Nirbhaya Act which ensured harsher punishment for sexual violence against women. The Supreme Court had in May 2017, upheld the death penalty awarded to the convicts by the Delhi HC.
