MHA Receives Mercy Petition Of Convict In Nirbhaya Case
NEW DELHI : According to the sources on Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) received the mercy plea of one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case. This was forwarded by the Delhi government which rejected the plea and recommended the death penalty, describing it as a rarest of the rare case.
The MHA is now expected to send this to President Ram Nath Kovind. However, the timeline for the same is unclear.’Hope the accused will be hanged to death soon’
Earlier, Asha Devi- the mother of Nirbhaya had welcomed the Delhi government’s decision to recommend the rejection of the mercy petition. Conceding that the legal process was still going on, he expressed a wish for the accused persons to be hanged soon. She said, “I welcome Delhi government’s decision to recommend rejection of mercy petition of one of the convicts in the case. I hope the accused will be hanged to death soon.” She further said, “I know that the process is still going on but I hope that the accused persons will be hanged to death soon.”
A 23-year-old paramedic student Nirbhaya was gang-raped inside a running bus by six persons on December 16 in 2012 in Delhi. The victim was severely assaulted and thrown out on the road along with her male friend and succumbed to injuries a few days later.
Out of the six convicts, one committed suicide in prison, while another, a juvenile, served maximum punishment of three years in a reform home and was set free in 2015. The remaining four rapists were convicted and handed death sentence by a trial court in 2013, confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014.
The Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court’s verdict in 2017. In July 2018, the SC rejected the review pleas filed by the three convicts for a re-examination of its 2017 judgment. The Tihar jail administration had issued a notice to the convicts on October 31 this year reminding them about the mercy petition being their last option after exhausting all other legal options.
The centre today confirmed that it has received the Arvind Kejriwal government’s recommendation against the mercy plea of a convict in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, and said that the document will be examined on merit before being sent to President Ram Nath Kovind.
“The file rejecting the mercy plea was forwarded by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to the Home Ministry,” a senior functionary in the Home Ministry told NDTV. President Kovind will have the final word on the matter, he added.
Vinay Sharma, one of the four convicts sentenced to death for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, had filed the mercy petition before President Kovind. The woman, now widely known as “Nirbhaya”, had died of her injuries days after the brutal assault. The incident led to massive protests across the nation, with many demanding that the four convicts be executed on priority.
A week ago, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for the rejection of the mercy petition to set an example for others who may feel inclined to commit such a crime in the future. “I think strict action should be taken in such cases, so that people think 10 times before doing something like this. This is why the Delhi government recommended that the President should not show any leniency in this case,” he told reporters.
The Chief Minister also expressed regret over the delay in executing the convicts’ death sentence, a grievance expressed repeatedly by the rape victim’s family for many years now. “There is no shortfall in our laws, the problem lies with those who implement them. Even in our case, delays happened due to those in the administration,” Badrinath Singh, her father, told NDTV a few days ago.
The National Commission for Women also urged President Kovind to reject the mercy petition, saying that only the death sentence would deter others from committing such crimes against women and girls.
Incidentally, the Delhi government’s rejection of the mercy plea comes at a time of nationwide outrage over the gang rape and murder of a 26-year-old veterinarian near Hyderabad. Four people have been arrested in connection with the incident, which occurred on November 27.( With Agency Inputs ).
