Nirbhaya's Mother Urges President Kovind To Reject Mercy Petition Of Convict

The mother of Nirbhaya, the 23-year-old paramedic student who died days after being gangraped in Delhi in December 2012, on Friday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to reject the mercy petition filed by one of the four men convicted in the case.

The letter written to Kovind said the petition filed by one of the convicts - Vinay Sharma - "deliberately tries to avoid the execution of the death sentence and hamper the dissemination of justice."

"Almost seven years have elapsed since then. The trauma, pain and agony suffered by the applicant (mother) is unbearable and the wait for justice is getting longer and longer," the letter sent through her lawyer further said.

A Delhi court had recently directed the Tihar Jail authorities to produce the four convicts on December 13 so that they can inform the court about the status of their petitions.

The court was hearing a plea by the victim's parents who have sought a direction to the jail authorities to expedite the execution of the convicts.

The plea said the victim's parents approached the court since the convicts have exhausted all legal remedies.

In December last year, the parents of Nirbhaya had approached the court to fast-track the procedure to hang all four convicts in the case.

Supreme Court on December 12, 2018, dismissed a PIL seeking direction to the Centre to execute the death penalty awarded to four convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay and Akshay -- in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

The victim had succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment.