A sessions court in Delhi on Thursday issued new death warrants against the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape-and-murder case. They are now scheduled to be hanged at 5.30am on March 20.
This is the fourth time the trial court is issuing death warrants for them.
The trial court had on February 17 issued a fresh date, 6am on March 3, for the execution of death warrants for the four convicts—Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31)—in the case. The sessions court had on Monday deferred their hanging.
On Thursday, the Delhi government argued in court that as the four convicts had exhausted all legal remedies, the court may proceed to fix a date for executions.
The government had swung into action hours after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four convicts facing the gallows in the case, on Wednesday.
