Explain delay in hanging Nirbhaya's rapists: Delhi women panel questions police

The Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty awarded to all four convicts in Nirbhaya gang-rape case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday issued a notice to Tihar Jail Administration and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South District, questioning the delay in execution of death penalty to rapists of 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case.

The Supreme Court on May 5 upheld the death penalty awarded to all four convicts in Nirbhaya gang-rape case by the High Court. 

Five months after the decision, the death sentence is yet to be carried out. 

In a complaint to the DCW, the victim's mother Asha Devi questioned, even after five months of Supreme Court's verdict, the accused have not been hanged. 

She also asked if Tihar Jail officials have issued an order of death sentence to the four accused. If the order has been issued, the reasons for not adhering to the order.

Responding to the mother's plea, DCW chairperson Swati Jaihind asked the Tihar Jail administration and DCP South District to respond by November 6.

On December 16, 2012, six people, including a juvenile, brutally assaulted and raped 23-year-old paramedic in a moving bus in South Delhi. The victim and her male friend were later thrown out of the bus. On December 29, 2012, the victim succumbed to the extensive injuries in a Singapore hospital. The incident triggered nation-wide protests.

The four convicts - Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh - were awarded death sentence. The fifth accused, Ram Singh, committed suicide in jail.

The sixth accused, a juvenile, has been released after completing mandatory probation period in a remand home.