Nirbhaya Case: Convict Demands Immediate Withdrawal Of Mercy Petition, Claims It Wasn't Signed By Him

Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts facing the gallows in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, has asked that the mercy plea in his name be withdrawn as he never authorised it. The convict claimed that the mercy plea sent to President Ram Nath Kovind by Union Home Ministry wasn't signed and authorized by him. The development comes a day after the victim's mother wrote to the president seeking dismissal of the clemency petition. Seeking to draw a parallel between the two cases, Nirbhaya's parents also said unlike them, the family of the deceased veterinary would not have to wait for justice.

In a letter written to Kovind, Nirbhaya's mother 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 lapsed 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, said.

The Union Home Ministry has sent to President Ram Nath Kovind the recommendation of the Delhi government rejecting the mercy plea of one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape-murder case, sources said on Friday.

The Home Ministry has also recommended in the file rejection of the mercy petition of one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape-and-murder case, an official said.

Nirbhaya was gang-raped on December 16, 2012. She later succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Singapore. The brutality of the rape had rocked the nation leading to massive protests. 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 case.

The victim's family, too, has been pressing for speedy justice and execution of the convicts. A Delhi court had recently directed the Tihar Jail authorities to produce the four convicts next Friday 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 had exhausted all legal remedies.