Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed curative petitions filed by two Delhi 2012 gangrape and murder case convicts — Vinay and Mukesh — in a chamber hearing. The 5-member SC bench was headed by Justice NV Ramana. Curative petitions are decided in-chambers by judges. It's the last and final legal remedy available to convicts.
A five-judge bench comprising Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, Rohinton Fali Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the curative petitions filed by Vinay Sharma and Mukesh, who moved the apex court on Thursday. Mukesh had filed the plea after fellow convict Vinay Sharma moved the court.
A trial court, while issuing death warrants against the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on Tuesday observed that "despite being afforded sufficient time and opportunity", the convicts didn't exercise their legal remedies.
Nirbhaya's mother says 'big day for me'
Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi after Supreme Court dismissed the curative petitions of the two convicts, said that this is a big day for her. "I had been struggling for the last 7 years. But the biggest day will be 22nd January when they (convicts) will be hanged," she added.
Mercy petition last resort
The convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case are now left with their last resort which is a mercy plea to the President as they have exhausted all the legal options.
Tihar Jail authorities carry out mock hangings of four dummies
Tihar Jail authorities on Sunday (January 12) carried out a dummy drill in the lead-up to the hangings of four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case. As part of the drill, four dummies with approximately the same body weights as the Mukesh Kumar, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta, were hanged from the ropes on the gallows. The dummies comprised stones and sand stuffed in gunny sacks, jail authorities told India TV News.
It is further learnt that the same ropes that were used in the morning’s drill will be employed to hang the four convicts on Jan 22, finalised as the date of hanging. Notably, it is perhaps the first time that such mock hangings have been carried out in the lead-up to an execution, authorities pointed out.
Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case convicts hanging on January 22
The court fixed January 22 and 7 am as the date and time for execution of the four convicted persons in the case. After a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped and tortured on December 16, 2012, leading to her death, all six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder.
ALSO READ: Nirbhaya Case: All four convicts to be hanged on 22 January
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