Dec 16 killers walk to Tihar’s gallows

Stage being set for execution at the time of going to press

nNEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed one last plea filed by convicts sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a moving bus in the city on December 16, 2012, removing the final obstacle in the way of the execution of the four men, set to hang at 5.30 am in Tihar Jail on Friday.

“No valid ground has been brought to my notice to justify the stay of execution of death warrants. The application is accordingly dismissed,” additional sessions judge (ASJ) Dharmender Rana ruled on the plea for a stay on execution filed by three of the convicts — Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma. The plea was “bereft of merits,” Rana said.

Late Thursday night, the counsel of the three convicts approached the Delhi high court against the city court’s order. Advocate AP Singh sought more time and said there were many pleas pending before different courts with respect to the convicts. But the state’s standing counsel said that none of the pleas were relevant. Around midnight, the high court dismissed the plea and it was bereft of merit.

The hanging of the four men — Mukesh Singh is the fourth convict — has been postponed on three separate occasions to enable the convicts to use up their

UNDER CLOSE WATCH

The convicts are under watch 24x7 and all efforts are being made to prevent them from inflicting self-harm

Families of the death row convicts had met them in recent

nnlegal remedies. The court observed that the time consumed by the judicial process in the case has led to questions over the rule of law and a perception that the convicts were frustrating the course of law.

Friday’s hanging would bring closure to the parents of the victim who have fought tirelessly for the execution of the death sentence handed down by a trial court in September 2013, and upheld subsequently by the Delhi days, in what was their last meeting

The last meal offered to the convicts was to be their usual dinner on Thursday night, unless they made any specific demand

nhigh court in March 2014 and the Supreme Court in May 2017.

The rape and fatal assault inside a private bus that moved around the city outraged the entire nation and triggered street protests and candle-light vigils in the Capital and elsewhere, eventually leading to tougher punishment for crimes against women. The victim died about two weeks later in a hospital in Singapore