Delhi Court Orders Last 7 Days for Bus Rapists Facing Delayed Death Penalty
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said the four rapists facing death sentence have only the last seven days to make use of all legal remedies available before execution.
In a much-awaited judgment, the court said they have to be executed together and not separately after one week.
So far, the death penalty to the four convicts has been delayed twice - first on January 22 and then on February 1. The Delhi High Court said on Wednesday that the convicts have frustrated the process by “delaying tactics.”
The court order assumed significance amid uproar from within the Indian society over the delayed execution of the four rapists who have been resorting to different legal remedies one by one, taking full advantage of the legal provisions that they are to be hanged together.
The four rapists have been convicted by the country’s highest court -- the Supreme Court of India, for raping and brutalising a medical student inside a bus on December 2012, who died a few days later.
The men were initially scheduled to be executed by hanging on January 22, but each one of them have been moving applications before different authorities, including the president of India, appealing for pardon so that their execution could be postponed.
Different legal remedies like pardon pleas, available for them under India’s legal system, have delayed their execution, thereby evoking strong reactions from the society.
The victim’s mother Asha Devi was quoted as saying that she was losing confidence in India’s legal system as it was only supporting those convicted of a heinous crime like rape.
“What their lawyers have done is a mockery of the law,” the mother told the media a few days ago.
“Our law is supporting them. But I am also struggling for seven years. I have followed every law. I hope that they are hanged as soon as possible.”
Reacting to Delhi High Court’s latest order, she said on Wednesday that she welcomed the court order and hoped their death penalty being carried out at the earliest.