Published 21:32 IST, December 10th 2019
ABOMINABLE: Read this Nirbhaya rapist's ghastly grounds in review plea to delay justice
Six days to the seventh death anniversary of Nirbhaya, one of the convicted rapists, Akshay Singh, filed a review plea in the top court on his death sentence
- Opinion
- 4 min read
Six days to the 7th death anniversary of Nirbhaya, one of the convicted rapists, Akshay Singh, filed a review plea in the top court on his death sentence. The most ghastly and beastly reasoning has been given by the rapist and murderer on death row to delay justice in the case. Under the grounds in the review plea filed by the convicted rapist and murderer Akshay Singh, we legal students, find a remarkable study in new shocking, bizarre reasoning to rape and murder convicts in a review plea. Such insensitive reasoning hasn't ever been seen before in the top court.
Shocking comments in the review petition
The review on page 16 at point D states, "Air quality of Delhi is...like a gas chamber and not only this the water of Delhi NCR...is also full of poison...life is going to short, then why death penalty?" On page 15 at point C, the Nirbhaya murderer and rapist writes, "Why death penalty when age is reducing? In Kalyug, age has come down to 50-60 years."
Seven years ago, the news of the brutal gangrape and death of Nirbhaya outraged India. On a cold winter night of December in 2012, six barbaric rapists beat her with a rod and raped her in a moving bus. They sexually assaulted her with a rusted, L-shaped iron rod that was used to operate a jack used to change flat tyres on buses. The words on page 22 cast a devastating shadow on the horror as it chooses to negate the crime that led to her gruesome death. It says, "The prosecutrix was raped by a minimum of two men and that she does not remember intercourse after that. It is, therefore, unsafe to proceed on the assumption that all six people on the bus committed rape."
Impact of review plea on the family of Nirbhaya
The review plea says her dying declarations can't be relied on as she was on "oxygen support ". The top court, on July 9 last year, had dismissed the review pleas by Mukesh (30), Pawan Gupta (23) and Vinay Sharma (24) in the case, saying no grounds have been made out by them for review of the 2017 verdict. Will this review also be dismissed or is it just a ruse to delay the case further?
Over the past 7 years, I have met Asha Devi, Nirbhaya's mother, in courts. She is a brave inspiring mother who is still fighting for justice. Sometimes she breaks down at the continued delays and the struggle. Sometimes she is fierce, wanting justice for her lost child. At all times, she is determined. A review plea such as this is devastating to the family of Nirbhaya who is appealing for justice.
Nirbhaya top court verdict
On 5 May 2017, the Supreme Court in the Nirbhaya case, upholding death to rapists said they had committed "a barbaric crime" that had "shaken society's conscience"."The casual manner with which she was treated and the devilish manner in which they played with her identity and dignity is humanly inconceivable. It sounds like a story from a different world where humanity has been treated with irreverence” the bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan said. It's time the mercy plea is rejected, the review is dismissed, delays are stopped and death is served to the rapists and murderers of Nirbhaya.
Updated 02:27 IST, December 11th 2019