No mercy but Delhi gang rape convict Mukesh Singh may not be hanged on Jan 22

india

Updated: Jan 17, 2020 14:28 IST

President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected Delhi gang rape convict Mukesh Singh’s plea for mercy. The presidential rejection of the mercy petition on Friday came hours after Home Minister Amit Shah recommended rejection of Mukesh Singh’s petition to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Mukesh Singh, 32, had filed a last-minute petition to President Kovind for a presidential pardon that could spare him the gallows. A Delhi judge had ordered his execution on January 22 along with his three other accomplices who were convicted for gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student on her way home.

The formal order by President Ram Nath Kovind, who was obliged to go by the advice of the Cabinet - in this case, the home ministry - has been issued and is being be conveyed to Tihar jail authorities, people familiar with the development said.

But the mercy plea may have already delayed the execution of the four convicts.

Also Read: 2012 gang rape verdict: The men who killed the Delhi braveheart

A Delhi judge, who was hearing Mukesh Singh’s plea for cancelling the death warrants issued for 7 am on January 22, had yesterday pointed to the law that gives death-row convicts 14 days’ time to prepare for their execution. Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora, who had on January 7 issued a black warrant, is expected to rule on the execution warrant later in the day.

People familiar with procedures to deal with death row convicts say that the execution of the four convicts would be delayed every time a convict files a mercy plea.

The three other death-row convicts - Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Thakur (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) - are yet to file one and can do so at any point.

Mukesh Singh was the cleaner of the bus that the paramedic student boarded on 16 December 2012 night along with a friend. They had watched a movie at Saket and were on their way home.

She was gang-raped and tortured by the six people on the bus, sparking public outrage across India and bringing thousands of people onto city streets to protest the failure to ensure women’s safety. She died on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

One of the six got away with a three-year-jail term because he was a juvenile when the offence was committed. The sixth, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide.

The six were convicted within a year of the crime. But it has taken years to decide the appeals that they filed.

Mukesh Singh filed the mercy petition this week after the Supreme Court rejected his curative petition. The petition, which had come to the city government for its comments, was recommended to be rejected by the state government. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters that his government had made its recommendation to reject the petition at ‘lightning speed’.

The recommendation was formally forwarded by Lt Governor Anil Baijal to the home ministry last morning. Home Minister Amit Shah took less than a day to clear the file and sent it to President Kovind for the final orders.