Nirbhaya case death row convict Vinay attempts to hurt himself in Tihar jail

Tihar Jail official said on Thursday (February 20) that Vinay, one of the death row convicts of 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, had tried to hurt himself by banging his head against a wall in his cell on February 16. The official added that Vinay had received minor injuries and he was taken to hospital for treatment. Sources said that Vinay tried to injured himself in order to delay his hanging.

Earlier this week, the court directed that the four convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape case - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) - be executed on March 3 at 6 am. Notably, it is for the third time that the court has issued death warrants against the convicts.

The first date of execution, January 22, was postponed to February 1 by a January 17 court order. Then the trial court, on January 31, stayed, "till further orders" the execution of the four convicts as they had not exhausted all their legal remedies. All the four convicts are currently lodged in Tihar Jail.

Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were sentenced to death in September 2013 by the trial court which was challenged by them in higher courts.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutalizing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later. One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.

Meanwhile, Asha Devi, the mother of Nirbhaya, on Wednesday (February 19) said in a special segment on nation's favourite show, 'DNA' with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary, that if her daughter fails to get justice then no other victim of heinous crimes like rape and murder will be able to get justice.

Asha Devi made an emotional appeal to the people of the country urging everyone to come together to ensure justice for Nirbhaya. "If Nirbhaya fails to get justice, no other victim will be able to get justice. All of us should come together and make sure that Nirbhaya gets justice," said Asha Devi.