NEW DELHI: President
Ram Nath Kovind on Friday rejected the mercy petition of one of the convicts in the
Nirbhaya
gang-rape and murder case.
The Union home ministry (MHA) had earlier forwarded to the
President
the mercy petition of
Mukesh Singh
, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.
"The Home Ministry has forwarded the mercy petition of Mukesh Singh to the President. The ministry has reiterated the recommendation of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi for its rejection," the official said.
The Delhi LG had sent the mercy petition of Mukesh to the MHA on Thursday, a day after the Delhi government recommended its rejection.
"It's a very good thing. Our hopes have gone up after the disheartening news that the execution might be delayed," the young woman's father said as news came in of the rejection.
The four convicts -- Mukesh Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in
Tihar Jail
. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.
However, the Delhi government had informed the high court during a hearing that execution of the convicts will not take place on January 22 as a
mercy plea
has been filed by Mukesh.
They were convicted and sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in the national capital on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012.
The victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya, had succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment.
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