Nirbhaya verdict: Slaughter of human rights, says defence lawyer AP Singh

AP Singh

New Delhi: Disappointed with the Supreme Court upholding the death sentence to the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, defence lawyer AK Singh said the court can’t hang anyone just to send in a strong message to the society. He termed the verdict as a “slaughter of human rights.” "Justice is not done. We will file review petition after reading the order. You cannot give a death sentence to anyone for a message to the nation. The meaning of punishment is improvement. There is a right to live. In this, the human rights have been neglected, Mahatma Gandhi's ideology has been neglected as this is violence," Singh was quoted by newagency ANI Earleir lawyer M.L Sharma who is representing one of the convicts Mukesh was confident of his client’s acquittal. Speaking to a news agency the lawyer had said, "We are expecting that Mukesh should be acquitted because there is no case against him. There is no evidence that he was even in the bus.” A three-member bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice R. Banumathi said the aggravating circumstances against Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur far outweighed the mitigating circumstances cited in their favour. The case definitely meets the rarest of rare benchmark, the bench said. "If ever a case called for hanging, this was it." The four were convicted on charges of raping and assaulting a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a bus that led to her death and triggered nationwide protests. A fifth accused committed suicide in prison while a sixth, a juvenile, has been released after serving his probation period in a remand home. Taking note of the serious injuries and the severe nature of the offence committed by the convicts, the judges said they were upholding the death sentence. The Delhi High Court earlier upheld the conviction and death sentence of the four. (With additional information from IANS)