Nirbhaya case: Convicts to be executed on March 20 at 5.30 am, says Delhi court

The death warrant was issued a day after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, the last of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case

New Delhi: A Delhi court issued a fresh death warrant against the convicts in Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on Thursday. The four convicts, who got death penalty for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi, dubbed Nirbhaya, more than seven years ago, will be hanged on March 20, at 5:30 am.

The death warrant was issued a day after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, the last of the four death row convicts. With the President's rejection, the convicts had exhausted all options for relief from the death sentence.

The most recent date set for their hanging was March 3, but one of them, Pawan Gupta, filed a mercy plea the day before.

The Delhi government had then asked for a fresh date for the convicts' execution, saying all their legal remedies had been exhausted.  

Meanwhile, Nirbhaya's mother, Asha Devi, said she hoped March 20 would be the final execution date.

"I hope this is the final date and they would be hanged on March 20. While dying Nirbhaya asked to ensure they get such punishment that such crime is not repeated ever," Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi said.

The case pertains to the gang-rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. She died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case, while the juvenile was sent to a reform centre and released after three years.