Nirbhaya Case: Convict Akshay Files Curative Plea In Supreme Court Challenging Death Penalty

Akshay, one of the four men sentenced to death in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Earlier today, the Supreme Court reserved verdict on a plea of one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi said that it will pronounce the verdict on Wednesday on convict Mukesh Kumar Singh's plea. President Ram Nath Kovind had rejected the mercy petition of Mukesh on January 17. The four death row convicts in the case are scheduled to be hanged on February 1. On Monday, a dummy execution of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case was performed at Tihar Jail.

This was the third instance of the jail authorities performing the dummy execution in order to test the equipment which will be used to hang the convicts, officials said. The procedure was carried out in the afternoon and will be repeated over the next few days, the officials said, adding that the ropes were procured from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

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The dummies were created using sacks filled with wheat and sand as per the weight of the convicts, a senior jail official said. Fresh death warrants were issued by a Delhi court on January 17 for the hanging of Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31), Mukesh Kumar Singh (32) and Pawan (26) on February 1 at 6 am after the previously-scheduled hanging on January 22 was postponed due to pending petitions.

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"We are testing the quality and strength of the material before the execution. The hangman will also come after three days. The convicts have three to four days to decide on having a last meeting with their family members," a senior jail official said.

Earlier in the day, the wife, mother and nephew of Akshay Kumar Singh met him in the prison, sources said. However, he can still have a last meeting with his family before being executed, they said.

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