Nirbhaya Convicts' Last Efforts At Delaying Execution As Tihar Jail Prepares For Hanging On March 20

As Tihar Jail in Delhi is conducting a dummy hanging at the prison, the fours Nirbhaya gang-rape convicts' lawyers are running from pillar to post to delay their execution.

The four men convicted of gang-rape and murder of a woman in 2012, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Vinay Sharma, are scheduled to be hanged at 5:30 am on March 20, tomorrow.

Efforts To Delay Execution

The convicts had filed several petitions seeking mercy, but all the pleas were dismissed. A Delhi Court on Tuesday, March 17, dismissed another petition filed by convict Mukesh Singh seeking quashing of the death penalty. Mukesh has now claimed that he was not in Delhi on the day the crime was committed.

While all the convicts have exhausted their legal and constitutional remedies with the filing of their mercy petitions, convict Pawan Gupta moved the Supreme Court with a curative petition on Tuesday, March 17, against the dismissal of his review plea rejecting his claim that he was a juvenile when the crime was committed.

On January 31, the top court had dismissed his review plea against the rejection of his appeal.

Akshay Thakur's Wife Files For Divorce

The wife of Akshay Thakur has filed for a divorce in a local court in Bihar's Aurangabad. His wife, Punita Devi, said that she does not want to live the life of a widow as her husband is scheduled to be hanged on March 20. "My husband is innocent. I want to be legally divorced before he is hanged," she said.

Speaking to the media in Aurangabad, Punita's lawyer Mukesh Kumar Singh said, "My client (Akshay Kumar Singh's wife Punita Singh) has a right to seek a divorce from her husband. That is why I have filed a plea in the family court. She has the right to seek divorce under Section 13(2)(II) of Hindu Marriage Act which says a woman can seek divorce if the husband has, since the solemnisation of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality."

It is speculated that the divorce petition could be another tactic to delay the execution.

Convicts' Families Seek Permission For Euthanasia

The families of the four convicts, in a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, had sought permission for euthanasia.

"We request you (President) and the parents of the victim to accept our request and give us permission for euthanasia and stop any crime from happening in the future so that another incident like Nirbhaya doesn't happen and the court doesn't have to hang five people in place of one," the families of the convicts said in the letter in Hindi.

Requesting the President to forgive the convicts, the families said, "In our country, even "Mahapapi" (great sinners) are forgiven." They claimed that revenge does not claim power, but the real power lies in forgiveness.

However, despite all the delaying tactics, legal experts believe that the March 20 execution cannot be deferred any further as all formalities have been completed and the convicts have exhausted all legal remedies.

On December 16, 2012, a young woman who is now referred to as Nirbhaya, was brutally gang-raped by six men in a moving bus, tortured with an iron road and thrown off the vehicle. She later succumbed to her injuries.

While one of the six men was found hanging in jail, the youngest, who was a juvenile when the crime was committed, was released after three years in a reform home in Delhi.

Also Read: "Convicts' Lawyers Trying To Delay Hanging, Evade Justice": Nirbhaya's Parent