MHA urges President to reject mercy plea of Delhi gangrape convict
The ministry’s move for justice in the rape of the 23-year-old paramedic student comes quick on the heels of the four accused in the Hyderabad gangrape caseThe Supreme Court had, in 2017, rejected the petition of the four convicts challenging the death penalty awarded to them in a case that was termed 'rarest of the rare'
NEW DELHI : The Union home ministry on Friday forwarded the mercy plea of the 2012 Delhi gangrape convict, Vinay Sharma, to President Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to reject the petition.
The ministry’s move for justice in the rape of the 23-year-old paramedic student comes quick on the heels of the four accused in the Hyderabad gangrape case being shot in an alleged encounter by the police in the early hours of Friday.
The Supreme Court had, in 2017, rejected the petition of the four convicts challenging the death penalty awarded to them in a case that was termed “rarest of the rare". The Delhi government earlier this month also sought rejection of Sharma’s mercy plea, given the “heinous" nature of the crime.
A senior central government official familiar with the developments said “only (Vinay) Sharma had filed for mercy plea. The other three -- Pawan Gupta, Akshay Thakur and Mukesh Singh -- did not do so and had exhausted all their options.
Soon after the accused had been nabbed by the Delhi police, in March 2013, one of the accused in the case -- Ram Singh -- had allegedly committed suicide within his cell in Tihar jail.
On Thursday, Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal had also urged President Kovind to reject Sharma’s mercy plea.
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