Nirbhaya Case: Mercy Plea Of Convict Pawan Rejected By President Kovind; Hanging May Take Place This Month

Nirbhaya Case: Pawan was the last convict to file a mercy petition with the President. The rejection of his petition comes after a Delhi court, on Monday, stayed for the third time the death sentence of four convicts in the case.

Court has issued fresh death warrants for March 3 at 6 am against all four convicts.

New Delhi: The mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four men facing the gallows in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, has been rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday. Pawan was the last convict to file a mercy petition with the President. President Ram Nath Kovind had on February 5 rejected the mercy petition of convict Akshay Singh Thakur. So far, mercy petitions of Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh have also been rejected. Sources have claimed that the final hanging may take place in the month of March. The Tihar Jail administration will now approach Delhi court to get a black warrant that will finalise the date to execute the death penalty to all 4 convicts. The rejection of Pawan’s petition comes after a Delhi court, on Monday, stayed for the third time the death sentence of four convicts in the case observing that they cannot be executed while a mercy petition is pending before the President. Advocate AP Singh, who is representing the Nirbhaya convicts, had filed the mercy petition before the President of India on behalf of convict Pawan Gupta on Monday. A"complete" mercy petition of convict Akshay Singh Thakur has also been filed claiming that the previous one, which was rejected by the President, did not have "complete facts". Meanwhile, Pawan Gupta's curative petition seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment was also dismissed by the Supreme Court on Monday. So far, three death warrants have been issued and stayed in the matter. Watch | Nirbhaya convicts likely to be hanged in March: Sources A 23-year-old woman paramedic student, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya - the fearless - was gang-raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. She succumbed to injuries on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where she was taken for better medical treatment. A total of six people - Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Gupta, Ram Singh and a juvenile -- were convicted in the gang rape and murder of the paramedic student here. (additional inputs from agencies)