New Delhi: The Patiala House Court on Tuesday, January 7, announced its verdict in the Nirbhaya gangrape case. The court has issued a death warrant for the four rapists. They are to be hanged on January 22 at 7 AM.
The Court announced its verdict to the convicts through video conferencing.
Welcoming the court’s verdict, Nirbhaya’s mother told the media, “This is India’s victory. Through this verdict, the women of the country will have renewed faith in the judiciary.”
The four convicts – Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur – are expected to be hanged together at the Tihar jail. Reportedly, a tunnel was also constructed for the convicts to be taken to the hanging area.
Nirbhaya’s mother, before the verdict was announced, had demanded that the men who brutally raped her daughter be hanged to death without delay.
While the nation celebrates, there are concerns about the judgement being carried out as there are still some ways left for the convicts to escape the death penalty.
The convicts’ lawyers have said that they will move a curative petition in the Supreme Court. The convicts can also submit a mercy petition to the President.
It can be recalled that a 23-year-old woman, who was later dubbed Nirbhaya, was gangraped in a bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012. She suffered severe injuries, most of them internal, and died in a hospital a few days later. The incident sparked widespread outrage with demands that the rapists be hanged immediately.
Six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.
Four of the convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017 which also dismissed their review petitions.
(With inputs from IANS)
