The twists and turns in the Nirbhaya case are far from over as three of the convicts have now approached the International Court of Justice seeking stay on execution. A Delhi court on March 3 had issued a fresh death warrant to all four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. The order by the court stated that all four convicts should be hanged on March 20, at 05:30 am. Three of the four convicts, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay have sought stay on execution.
Moreover, just 5 days before the scheduled execution, the families of the convicts on appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to grant the convicts a death by euthanasia (mercy killing). Reportedly, two letters had been written by family members of Mukesh while 3 letters were written by Akshay’s family. Four letters each were sent to the President, by Mukesh and Vinay’s family members.
On Sunday, the Tihar Jail authorities had asked hangman Pawan Jallad to report by 17th March, three days, prior to the date of execution. Dummy executions would also be conducted after his arrival. Regular counselling and health checkups are also being provided to the convicts.
Earlier, the families of the Nirbhaya rape case convicts had gathered outside the Patiala House Court in Delhi pleading for the rapists and murderers not to be hanged. One of the placards claims that the Nirbhaya case had gained traction because of a conspiracy hatched by ‘Deshdrohi’ Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi. Another placard told Ramnath Kovind, the President of India, that he would incur the sin of ‘Brahma Hatya’ if ‘Brahmin’ Vinay Sharma was hanged to death. That particular placard was raised by one Mukesh Jain, the chief of one ‘Dara Sena’.
The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who is known as “Nirbhaya” was gang-raped and savagely assaulted by six men (5 adult and one juvenile) on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She succumbed to her injuries and died a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. The execution of the convicts has been postponed several times due to shrewd exploitation of loopholes in the law.
