With December 16 drawing close, the day on which medical student Nirbhaya was brutally raped and later succumbed to her injuries during treatment, Tihar jail authorities have started preparation for the execution of the convicts. The Tihar jail officials have sought the services of two hangmen from Uttar Pradesh.
According to reports, Director General (DG) of UP Prisons (Administration and Reform Services) Anand Kumar has confirmed that the Tihar jail superintendent had written a letter to the Uttar Pradesh prison authorities seeking services of two hangmen.
On Sunday night, one of the convicts Pawan Gupta has been shifted to Tihar Jail from Mandoli jail. Three other convicts in the case — Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma — are already in Tihar Jail.
According to Anand Kumar, they received a request from the Tihar prison on December 9 seeking services of the two hangmen of UP, as they do not have hangman there. The letter, however, did not make a mention of the convicts to be hanged.
He said the letter mentioned that some convicts in Tihar jail have been awarded capital punishment and their legal and constitutional remedies had been exhausted. The four men have been on death row for two years.
He said the hangmen would be provided to the Tihar jail authorities as and when required. He said the date and timings were not mentioned by the Tihar jail authorities so the two hangmen have been told to remain prepared in case they were called for execution of convicts anytime soon.
Prison officials said the UP prison administration has two hangmen on its rolls, one in Lucknow and another in Meerut.
Meanwhile, in the Nirbhaya case that took place on December 16, 2012, six persons brutally raped a 23-year-old paramedic in a moving bus. She was accompanied by a friend who was also beaten up and later, both of them were thrown out of the vehicle.
Nirbhaya had suffered critical injuries and later died during treatment. The brutality of the crime led to national outrage and a new legislation was formed to deal with such heinous crimes. Of the six persons convicted, one was a minor and was released after a three-year-term. One accused Ram Singh, committed suicide inside Tihar jail while four others namely, Akshay Singh Thakur, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma are awaiting death warrant.
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