Mentally unstable, Bhullar won’t face execution in India

A Surrey woman’s husband who has become mentally unstable after being in solitary confinement on death row in India for more than a decade will not be executed, the country’s government announced Wednesday.

According to Indian broadcaster New Delhi Television, the government claims that because of his health, Devinderpal Singh Bhullar — alleged to be involved in a 1993 Delhi car-bomb blast that killed nine people—will not be executed before his mercy plea goes to court, which has been scheduled for March 10.

The Supreme Court and the state of Delhi have been urging the government to make a decision on Bhullar’s mercy plea, which was filed by his wife Navneet Kaur, who lives in Surrey with her parents. They’ve asked for Bhullar’s death sentence to be commuted to life because of his mental illness, referencing a landmark Supreme Court ruling from January that saw 15 inmates’ death sentences switched to life imprisonment based on long delays in court decisions or mental instability. Bhullar fits both criteria.

In a January interview with Vancouver Desi, Kaur said she’s spent the last 20 years watching her husband’s health slowly decline as she’s travelled to visit him in prison. According to Kaur, Bhullar no longer recognizes her. Kaur could not be reached by phone Wednesday.

Bhullar was a college professor in Punjab when he was alleged to be involved in the 1993 Delhi car-bombing. He was sentenced to death in 2001. Hespent 10 years in solitary confinement, which resulted in his mental instability and subsequent transfer to a psychiatric facility.