The Supreme Court on Monday decided to work extra hours to fast-track a hearing in the December 16, 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case. The four convicts in the case – Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma – challenged the death sentence awarded to them by the Delhi High Court. A special bench will hear their plea from 2 pm to 6 pm every day, July 18 onwards, ANI reported.

Six individuals had gangraped a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012. The victim, whom they had brutally abused, had succumbed to her injuries on December 29 the same year at a hospital in Singapore.

The incident had triggered countrywide protests and demands to ensure better safety for women in India. The outrage had forced the government to introduce new laws on rape.

The prime accused in the case, Ram Singh, committed suicide in Tihar Jail on March 11, 2013, while the sixth convict – a juvenile – was released on December 20 last year after serving a three-year sentence under the Juvenile Justice Act.