india

Updated: Feb 05, 2020 16:06 IST

The mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim on Wednesday welcomed Delhi High Court’s seven-day deadline to the four convicts to exhaust their legal options in the case but said they must be brought to justice soon.

“I welcome Delhi High Court’s verdict. It gives all the four convicts one week to resort to all legal remedies available to them. After this, the convicts should be hanged soon,” she said, according to news agency ANI.

The mother of the 23-year-old woman, who has been present in courts for the hearings, had expressed her shock to the staying of execution of the four convicts earlier in January.

“The lawyer of the convicts, AP Singh has challenged me saying that the convicts will never be executed. I will continue my fight. The government will have to execute the convicts,” she had said while speaking to reporters amid tears.

The high court on Wednesday asked the convicts to exhaust all their legal remedies available within a week, saying after which the authorities can take further steps.

Justice Suresh Kumar rejected the Centre’s appeal against the trial court’s order that put off their execution on February 1 and the request to hang two of them - Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma - because they had exhausted their legal options.

The four convicts—Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta (25), Akshay Thakur (31) and Vinay Sharma (26)—are on death row for the gang rape and assault of a 23-year-old paramedic student inside a moving bus on December 16. The young woman died in a hospital in Singapore on December 29, 2012.

Justice Kait had held a special hearing on Sunday at the Centre’s request and reserved judgement on the Centre and Tihar Jail’s plea challenging the stay on the execution of the four convicts in the case.