Nirbhaya gang-rape case: Supreme Court upholds death sentence for three convicts

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the review petition filed by three convicts of the Nirbhaya gang-rape case and upheld the death sentence awarded to them.

Three of the four Nirbhaya gang rape and murder convicts - Mukesh (29), Pawan Gupta (22) and Vinay Sharma (23) - had filed review petitions against the apex court’s May 5, 2017 judgment. In their pleas, the convicts had sought the reduction of their death sentence to a life term.

Pronouncing the verdict, Justice Ashok Bhushan said that all the pleas filed by the convicts were taken into account but the court didn't find any new ground to reconsider the death penalties awarded to them in May 2017.

"The death row convicts failed to point out "error" in the judgment. They were heard elaborately during appeals and no grounds have been made out for review of May 2017 verdict," the apex court said in its verdict.

The fourth convict - Akshay Kumar Singh (31) had not filed the review petition but his advocate said that his client will also file a review petition against the death penalty given to him for the inhuman act.

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In 2012, the victim, who was given the pseudonym of 'Nirbhaya' (the one who has no fear) was gang-raped on the intervening night of December 16-17 inside a moving bus in South Delhi by six persons. In the inhuman and brutal assault, the convicts had inserted an iron rod into her genitals and pulled her uterus out.

She later succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. One of the accused in the case, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar jail in Delhi.

A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.