Nirbhaya Case Convicts Show No Fear, Guilt Even After Delhi Court Issues Death Warrant

While the court was hearing the application, filed by Nirbhaya's parents, seeking to expedite the execution of convicts, the prosecution argued that no application was pending before any court or the President right now by any of the convicts.

Nirbhaya gang rape case convicts, clockwise from top left, Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday issued death warrants against the four convicts in the Nirbhaya Rape and murder case. The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora. All the convicts were produced before the court through video conferencing. During the hearing, Akshay, a convict, alleged that the jail superintendent had leaked the information to media. The convicts had no sign of fear or guilt on their faces. While the court was hearing the application, filed by Nirbhaya's parents, seeking to expedite the execution of convicts, the prosecution argued that no application was pending before any court or the President right now by any of the convicts. "The review petition of all convicts are dismissed. In between the issuance and the execution of death warrants if the convicts want to file curative petitions they can do so," the public prosecutor said. "They can avail their pending legal remedies after issuance of death warrant also," said advocate Jitendra Jha who was representing the victim's parents. The amicus curaie and the counsel of the convicts, however, pressed that certain legal remedies were still available with the convicts. However, after concluding the arguments, the judge issued the death warrants and ordered their execution, but, granted them 14 days to exercise remedies. A 23-year-old woman was gang-raped and tortured on December 16, 2012, which led to her death. All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused, a minor, appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another committed suicide in Tihar Jail. The four convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013. The Delhi High Court confirmed the verdict in March 2014, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017, which also dismissed their review petitions.