The hanging of four death row convicts behind the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in 2012 will take place on March 20, a Delhi court has ruled, following a series of delays.

In its ruling, the court said that the four men had exhausted all of their legal remedies – apparently signaling that the years-long ordeal to carry out the executions would finally be coming to a close.

The four convicts were set to hang at the start of March, but a last-minute court order deferred the execution indefinitely. The move represented the latest foot-dragging by authorities in a case that has lasted nearly eight years, sparking outrage across India.

The death warrant was issued a day after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, the last of the four death row convicts, NDTV said.

On Monday, the Patiala House court had refused to hold the execution of the four Nirbhaya case convicts, who were to be hanged at 6 am on Tuesday.

The new date of execution was fixed by Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana. The lawyer for the four death row convicts told the court that there was no legal impediment for it in proceeding to fix the date of execution.

Also on rt.com ‘Mockery of the law!’ Indian gang rape & murder convicts get yet ANOTHER execution delay, triggering rage on social media

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