President rejects mercy petition of Akshay Thakur, one of the convicts in 2012 Delhi gang rape case

india

Updated: Feb 05, 2020 20:51 IST

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday rejected the mercy petition of Akshay Thakur, one of the four men sentenced to death in the 2012 Delhi gag rape and murder case, Home Ministry officials said on Wednesday, according to PTI.

Thakur has filed the mercy petition before the president on Friday.

The President had already rejected the clemency petition of two other accused in the case - Mukesh Singh and Vinay Kumar Sharma.

Earlier Wednesday, the Delhi High Court set 7-day deadline for the convicts to file petitions against execution after which the authorities should act in accordance with the law. The Centre had moved the high court challenging the postponement of the death warrant

On January 31, a Delhi court postponed the hanging of the four convicts hours before their execution until further orders stating that according to the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 if an appeal and application is made by one convict, then the execution sentence of all co-convicts will be postponed as well.

They were first ordered to be hanged on January 22 before the date was changed to February 1.