New Delhi, March 2:  Execution of all the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case has been deferred by a Delhi Court on Monday. The convicts were scheduled to be hanged on March 3. The hanging has been delayed till further notice as the mercy petition of one of the convicts – Pawan Kumar Gupta - is still pending before President Ram Nath Kovind.  Pawan Kumar Gupta Files Curative Petition Before SC to Convert Death Sentence to Life Imprisonment.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court rejected a curative petition filed by Pawan. The other three convicts in the case are – Mukesh Singh, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar. It is the third time when the execution of the convicts was deferred. Death Row Convict Vinay Sharma's Mercy Plea Rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Initially, they were scheduled to be hanged on January 22. Later their hanging date was shifted to February 1. As legal remedies of the convicts were pending, the hanging date was shifted to March 3. As per procedure, the convicts must be served with a 14-day execution notice after their mercy plea is rejected by the President. Meanwhile, the other tree convicts had used all their legal remedies. Nirbhaya Gangrape-Murder Case: Convict Mukesh Singh Moves Mercy Plea Before President.

Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi expressed disappointment over the decision. Talking to news agency ANI, she said, "Why is the court taking so much time to execute its own order to hang the convicts? Repeated postponing of the execution shows the failure of our system. Our entire system supports criminals." Nirbhaya Case: Delhi High Court Rejects Convict Pawan Kumar's Claim of Committing Crime Under Juvenile Age, Dismisses His Plea.

Asha Devi's Statement:

On December 16, 2012, the 23-year-old paramedical student was raped in a moving bus in South Delhi by six people. One of the accused, Ram Singh, committed suicide in Tihar Jail, while another accused was sent to rehabilitation home as he was juvenile. A trial court gave them a death sentence in 2013

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 02, 2020 05:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).