The Supreme Court (SC,) on the 14th of February, dismissed a petition filed by Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape case.
Vinay Sharma moved the SC, challenging President of India Ram Nath Kovind’s rejection of his mercy plea. According to the filed petition, Vinay Sharma said President Kovind rejected his mercy plea without considering his “mental stability” and the torture he suffered in jail. However, the Central Government denied the allegations and submitted a medical report which said Sharma was “fit and of sound mind.”
The execution of the 4 convicts in the Nirbhaya case was delayed for the 2nd time due to the mercy and curative petitions filed by the convicts one by one. While the convicts’ legal rights and the judicial system are allowing them to delay their execution, the State Government and the media are trying to build pressure, so the execution takes place soon.
A Delhi trial court issued a stay order on the execution of the death sentence issued to the four convicts. The four convicts who are guilty are Mukesh Kumar Singh (32,) Pawan Gupta (25,) Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31.)
On the night of the 16th of December, 2012, 6 men, including a minor, brutally gang raped a girl in a moving bus. Out of the 6, the main accused, Jai Singh, committed suicide in 2013 and the minor was released after being remanded to a reform home for 3 years.
The remaining 4 convicts were given the death sentence in 2017.
