The Supreme Court on Monday gave two convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case more time to file responses in connection with their review petition against the death penalty awarded to them. The court will hear the matter next on February 16, ANI reported.
The review petition was filed by convicts Pawan and Vinay.
In December, the court had reserved its order on the review petition filed by a third convict, Mukesh. He had said he was tortured and coerced into giving a statement, and that the investigation in the case did not follow due process and evidence had been tampered with.
Six men, including a minor, had raped a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012. The woman, who they brutally assaulted, succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012, at a hospital in Singapore. The minor who was convicted was released in December 2015 after serving three years in a detention home for juveniles, while one convict died in prison.
A trial court had ordered death sentences for the convicts in September 2013, which was upheld by the Delhi High Court six months later. However, the Supreme Court issued a stay order on the sentence after the convicts Akshay, Vinay Sharma, Pawan and Mukesh had moved it. On May 5, 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for all four convicts in the case.
The incident had triggered country-wide protests and demands to ensure more safety for women in India. The outrage had forced the government to introduce new laws on rape.
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