All four men convicted of the gang-rape and murder of a woman in Delhi in 2012 will be hanged tomorrow morning as decided earlier. On Thursday, the Patiala House Court rejected all appeals of the convicts, Akshay Thakur, 31, Pawan Gupta, 25, Vinay Sharma, 26, and Mukesh Singh, 32, who are to hang at 5.30 am on Friday.
Delhi Court Rejects Petitions
According to the sources, a Delhi court was on Thursday told that there were no legal remedies of any of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case were pending in any of the courts. Earlier, the convicts had requested that their execution be stopped, claiming that they still had legal remedies left.
“No legal remedies are pending as of now. Pawan and Akshay’s second mercy was also not entertained by the President of India,” Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmad told the court.
“My friend can move 100 applications, but these are not strictly legal remedies,” he said.
Creating a drama outside the court, the convict’s wife, who has sought a divorce, fainted outside the Patiala House court complex.
The Tihar is well prepared
With fewer hours left before the four convicts of the December 16 gangrape case are executed, Delhi’s Tihar jail authorities have begun the final arrangements.
As per the reports, Jail officers informed that on Wednesday they carried out dummy executions inside phansi kotha( hanging courtyard). A team of jail officers along with the hangman, Pawan Jallad investigated the hanging courtyard inside jail 3 again on Thursday morning.
“In the evening we will prepare the hanging courtyard one last time before the execution. The jail administrators will talk to the convicts in the evening and ask them if they wish to write a letter or have a final wish. They have been counseled by the prison trained counselors,” said a prison officer, who did not wish to be named.
The 10 ropes to be used for hanging that was brought from Buxar, Bihar that has been tied to the beam at the gallows will be checked one last time on Thursday evening.
Pawan Jallad, a Meerut resident, is being paid Rs 15,000 per hanging. This will be the first time when four men will be hanged simultaneously inside Tihar. Interestingly, along with Pawan, only a few officers such as the jail superintendent and the prison’s doctor will be present on Friday morning. Later, the officer added that the execution process will be complete before 6.30 am.
The four men are currently lodged in Jail number 3 next to the hanging courtyard. Each convict is lodged separately and guarded by at least 2-3 jail wardens who monitor their movements round-the-clock.
A second prison officer said, who also did not wish to be named, said that until Wednesday the convicts did not show any signs of nervousness but on Thursday most of them kept quiet.
“Until a few days ago it did not look like they were on a death row. The hanging has already been postponed thrice. They have not even made any specific demands as their last wish. They did not exhibit any signs of depression or fear but since Wednesday night, their behavior has changed. We have been told that they are not speaking much with the prison guards, “ the second officer said.
