Nirbhaya case: Tihar Jail asks Delhi govt to postpone the hanging of four convicts

Tihar Jail authorities today asked the Delhi government to postpone the hanging of four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, and sought a fresh date for the purpose. They said that the hanging cannot take place until mercy petitions filed by the convicts were settled.

The four convicts were supposed to be hanged on January 22 in keeping with a verdict passed by a Delhi court last week.

The Delhi gang rape, known better as the Nirbhaya case, pertains to the shocking rape-cum-murder of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the national capital on December 16, 2012. A Delhi court presided by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora had sentenced the four convicts in the case - Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta - to death on January 7.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that Mukesh Singh had filed a mercy petition on Tuesday, which his government rejected "at lightning speed". However, Tihar Jail officials have pointed out that even if such a plea is rejected, existing rules extend the benefit of 14 days' notice to the convict concerned before the execution can be carried out.