Even on last day, Nirbhaya convicts kept hoping against hope

NEW DELHI: A day before their scheduled execution, the four Nirbhaya convicts were anxious. They were eager to know about the plea filed for stay on hanging.
Jail officers had planned to keep an extra vigil on all four of them on Thursday night to ensure they don’t hurt themselves. All the staff, including the hangman, were counselled earlier in the day and their phones confiscated.
Sources said that the four convicts were also counselled.An excerpt from the Gita was read out to them and they were told about the karma.
“Pawan broke down after this and asked for forgiveness, while Mukesh kept on claiming that he was suffering for something he had not done. He blamed his past lives for this. Akshay said he had reformed himself and wanted to do something good for the society. Vinay was hopeful that the hanging would be stalled at the last moment,” a jail officer said.
On Thursday, the hangman conducted a dummy test using the actual hanging ropes.
As per schedule, all four convicts were handed at 5.30am on Friday inside Tihar jail.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)