Published 21:05 IST, February 22nd 2020
Nirbhaya case: Asha Devi exudes confidence, says 'convicts will be hanged on March 3'
Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi said the convicts in her daughter's gang-rape & murder case are misleading the courts and using tactics to delay their execution
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Asha Devi, mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim on Saturday said that the convicts are misleading the courts and using tactics to delay their execution. She expressed confidence that the convicts will be hanged on March 3. This statement of Asha Devi comes after a Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the petition of convict Vinay Sharma seeking high-level medical treatment for his claimed insanity.
Speaking to the media Asha Devi said, "It was a tactic to delay the execution. The convicts are misleading the courts. They have exhausted almost all legal remedies and I believe that they will be hanged on March 3."
On the other hand, advocate AP Singh, representing the convict, claimed miscarriage of justice. Singh said, "I sought to call for the videography of the convict in the prison. I witnessed it myself. If there is no plaster on the hand of Vinay, if there is no injury on his head and people are not visibly holding him down in the video, I will quit practicing law."
Delhi court dismisses plea
A Delhi court today dismissed the application seeking medical treatment for claimed insanity observing that general anxiety and depression are obvious for those on death row, adding that adequate medical treatment and psychological help are evidently being provided to the condemned convict.
"I have also seen the CD provided by the Jail Authorities wherein the convict is seen conversing with his counsel and family members. The apparent tone and tenor of the convict is not suggestive of any abnormal behaviour, rather it convincingly corroborates the opinion of the medical experts," Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana said in the order.
Earlier today, the court had reserved its order in the matter after hearing arguments from both sides. Vinay, through his lawyer, had filed an application that sought high-level medical treatment after he allegedly sustained a "grievous head injury, fracture in his right arm, insanity, mental illness, and schizophrenia".
A fresh death warrant has been issued for the four death row convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case for their hanging at 6 am on March 3. This is the third time that the court has issued death warrants against the four convicts in the last two months.
The Nirbhaya rape and murder case
A 23-year-old paramedic student Nirbhaya was gang-raped inside a running bus by six persons on December 16, 2012, in Delhi. The victim was severely assaulted and thrown out on the road along with her male friend and succumbed to injuries a few days later. Out of the six convicts, one reportedly committed suicide in prison, while another, a juvenile, served maximum punishment of three years in a reform home and was set free in 2015. The remaining four rapists were convicted and handed the death penalty by a trial court in 2013, confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014. The Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court's verdict in 2017.
(with ANI inputs)
21:05 IST, February 22nd 2020