Nirbhaya Convicts Did Not Express Any Last Wish Before Hanging: Officials

The four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, who were hanged on Friday morning, had not expressed any last wish, according to officials. "The convicts had not expressed any last wish or will to authorities," an official said. Death row convicts are asked about their last wish before hanging. As per prison manual, any documents, including the will of the prisoner, can be signed and attested in the presence of the jail superintendent and the district magistrate or additional district magistrate. (LIVE UPDATES)

The four men -- Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- convicted for the 2012 gang rape and murder of the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who later came to be known as 'Nirbhaya', were hanged at 5.30 am inside Delhi's Tihar Jail.

Meanwhile, investigating officers of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on Friday called the hanging of the four convicts a 'real tribute' to the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who was savagely brutalised in an empty moving bus in a South Delhi neighbourhood. Pramod Singh Kushwaha, then the additional DCP (South) and who headed the investigation team, said each and every member of the team pitched in to prepare a watertight case against the convicts. "The hanging is a tribute to the departed soul. They will also act as a deterrent to other rapists," Kushwaha, now the DCP of the special cell, told PTI.

Inspector Anil Sharma, who was the SHO of Vasant Vihar police station and investigated the case, said, "It is a tribute to Nirbhaya. We stood with her family during court hearings and will be there for them." The four convicts were hanged in Tihar Jail at 5.30 am on Friday. On December 16, 2012, the men, one of whom was a juvenile at the time, raped Nirbhaya and dumped her on the road and left for dead on the cold winter night. Her friend who was with her was also severely beaten and thrown out along with her.

She was so severely violated that her insides were spilling out when she was taken to hospital. She died in a Singapore hospital after battling for her life for a fortnight. Six people, including the four convicts and the juvenile, were named as accused. While Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case, the juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.