Hanging of Dec 16 convicts delayed by AAP: BJP
NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday accused the AAP government of delaying the hanging of the four convicts in the December 16 gangrape case. The party also condemned lawyer Indira Jaising for having appealed to Asha Devi, mother of the victim, to forgive the convicts.
“The convicts of the December 16 gang-rape case were awarded the death sentence in July 2017. For the next two years, the Delhi government did not even inform them of the punishment,” said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari at a press conference held at the party’s national headquarters in Delhi. He added that Tihar jail was under the jurisdiction of the
Delhi government, and the convicts, who should have been informed about the 2017 verdict soon after, were only informed two years later — in 2019.
On Friday, a Delhi court set
February 1 as the date for the hanging of the four convicts. Additional sessions judge Satish Kumar was hearing a plea by one of the convicts, Mukesh Singh, who asked that his execution be postponed from January 22. In the court on that day, authorities at Tihar jail had sought the issuance of fresh death warrants against the four convicts.
Responding to BJP’s allegation, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the saffron party should refrain from politicising such sensitive issues. “If the Central government was so sensitive, why did it take seven years to issue a black warrant against the four culprits? We have repeatedly said law and order and the police come under the L-G. Even the Director General (prisons) are appointed by the home ministry via the L-G. The Delhi government’s role was limited to sending the file to the L-G, which we did in no time,” he said.
The BJP also condemned lawyer Indira Jaising for having appealed to Asha Devi, mother of the victim, to forgive four convicts and raised questions on her links with AAP.
“This is the worst form of politics. Jaising herself is a woman, she should have thought a thousand times before making that suggestion. And, people very well know her link with the AAP. We condemn this,” said Saroj Pandey, BJP national secretary, who was also present at the press conference. “I want to ask the DCW (Delhi Commission for Women) chief too, why she is not agitating after the comments made by Indira Jaising,” said BJP leader Shazia Ilmi. Jaising did not respond to requests for comment, despite several attempts by HT.