The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the curative petition of one of the four death-row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case, reported Bar and Bench. Pawan Gupta in his petition had sought commutation of his death penalty to life imprisonment.
Gupta had filed the curative petition on February 28. He, along with the other convicts – Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh – are scheduled to be hanged at Tihar Jail in Delhi on March 3.
The four convicts were given the death penalty – first by a trial court in September 2013, which was upheld by the Delhi High Court six months later and the Supreme Court in May 2017.
The death warrants were first issued for January 22, and then postponed to February 1 because of the mercy pleas filed by two of the convicts. Gupta was the only one among the four convicts who had not availed of the legal remedies. His counsel had told a sessions court in Delhi earlier this that he could not avail any legal remedy as his earlier lawyer did not meet him during the seven-day period granted by the Delhi High Court.
Six men raped and brutally assaulted a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in a moving bus in Delhi on the night of December 16, 2012. The woman succumbed to her injuries two weeks later at a hospital in Singapore. The gangrape triggered huge protests in the Capital and across the country. One convict died in prison, while a minor convict was sent to a detention home for juveniles and was released in December 2015.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!