Nirbhaya gangrape-murder convicts break down after court issues death warrant

New Delhi: In a big development, Delhi's Patiala House court on Tuesday (January 7) issued a death warrant for the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. The convicts will be hanged at 7 am on January 22. As soon as the judge pronounced the verdict, the convicts, who were produced before court through video conferencing, broke into tears.  Additional Session Judge Satish Kumar Arora issued the death warrant against them.

Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi who very courageously fought the case erupted with joy and said that her struggle of seven years has finally ended. She said that her daughter has got justice and the hanging of four convicts will empower the women of the country. "My daughter has got justice. Execution of the four convicts will empower the women of the country. This decision will strengthen the trust of people in the judicial system," said Asha Devi.

Lauding courts decision Nirbhaya's father Badrinath Singh said, "I am happy with the court's decision. This decision will instil fear in people who commit such crimes.''

Earlier in the day, the court reserved the order on the plea of parents of Nirbhaya seeking issuance of death warrant against all the four convicts in the case. The court heard the plea of parents of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim seeking to expedite the procedure to hang all four convicted in the case and also seeking issuance of death warrant against them. It was informed by the lawyers of the convicts that they are in the process of filing the curative plea. 

However, the convicts' lawyer AP Singh said that they will file a curative petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the death warrant. Singh said, "We will file a curative petition in the Supreme Court within two days. Five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court will hear it. There has been media, public and political pressure since the beginning, which is why an unbiased probe did not take place in this case.''

 The four convicts are Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur. The main accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail during the trial. Another accused was a minor at the time of the commission of the crime and was sent to a reform facility and released after three years.

People across the country including political leader including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Gautam Gambhir, Minister G Kishan Reddy,  DCW Prakash Javedkar and many others spoke in favour of the decision and said that this judgement will set an example for others. 

The issuance of a death warrant means that the four convicts will now be not allowed to work inside the jail and they will be kept under round-the-clock surveillance. The medical check-up of convict against whom death warrant is issued is done two times in a day. The black warrant issued by the court is sent to the jail in a red envelope and convicts and their family members are informed about the death warrant by the jail authorities.