The Apex Court Dismisses Curative Petitions Of Two Of The Four Nirbhaya Convicts. Why Didn’t The Other Two File Petitions?
Even though it has been seven years to the Nirbhaya case, no one has forgotten even a single detail of it. The case marked the single most horrifying rape case that was beyond even our worst nightmares and no amount of candle marches and protests made it better. Nirbhaya aka Jyoti Singh was gang-raped, beaten, gutted and thrown out naked by six men (if they can be called that) that were aboard the bus. What happened with her was utterly terrifying and inhumane and it induces fear in our hearts even today.
All these years though, no justice was served. The four remaining convicts (one committed suicide in jail and the other one was a juvenile), Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma were living out their lives behind bars. Then on 7th January, a Delhi court issued a death warrant against the four convicts, setting their hanging date as 22nd January 2020 at 7am. While the whole country was rejoicing in the fact that Nirbhaya will finally get peace and justice, the lawyers of these four were obviously setting up the next steps to overturn the decision.
Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma then went on to file curative petitions in the Supreme Court while the other two convicts did nothing of the sort. Today is the day Nirbhaya won the battle, for a five-judge bench headed by Justice NV Ramana dismissed their curative petitions. Reportedly, the bench found the petitions to have no merit. We are so glad the SC has cleared the path for their execution.
Also Read: Justice For Nirbhaya: 7 Years Late But The Four Convicts Are Finally Being Executed. This Is Good News
#NirbhayaCase | A five-judge bench headed by Justice NV Ramana rejected the curative petitions filed by Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Kumar https://t.co/dYsMQuGY5x
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) January 14, 2020
On hearing this news, Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi, who has been fighting tooth and nail to see her daughter get the justice she deserves, said “Their review petitions earlier have been rejected. The Court has held a video conference and asked the culprits to file a curative. Their lawyers did not do anything back then. Finally, when the court decided to give them a death sentence and selected a date, they are now doing everything they can to delay it.” She also added “Today is a big day but the biggest day of my life will be January 22, when they’ll be hanged.”
Judging from the atmosphere in our country right now, I would say this piece of good news couldn’t have come at a better time.
But the question that is playing in my head is why did only two convicts file a curative petition? After all, it is the last legal resort available to them. The only thing these convicts can do now is to move the President’s house hoping for a mercy plea. Which if you think about it, is kind of improbable. So why didn’t’ Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta file a curative petition? Is it some kind of ploy to file it later and delay the date of hanging? Though they would be well within their rights to do so, we really hope it does not affect their execution.
Also Read: It’s Been 7 Years Since The Gruesome Nirbhaya Rape Case, But Nothing Much Has Changed.
Asha Devi, mother of 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim: This is a big day for me. I had been struggling for the last 7 years. But the biggest day will be 22nd January when they (convicts) will be hanged. #NirbhayaCase
(File Pic:- ANI) pic.twitter.com/yz7KLr5IXa— News90Degree (@News90Degree) January 14, 2020
No matter what your views on capital punishment are, if there is one thing the entire country can agree on, it is that these four men need to be hung. Reports say that Tihar Jail has already started preparing for the hanging. They ran a mock execution on Sunday by filling sacks with debris and stones according to each one convict’s weight.
Tihar Jail has also arranged for the convicts to meet their families on January 20th in the presence of jail authorities.
This is the last leg of this war and we are praying and hoping that Nirbhaya emerges victorious and avenged. This crime has instilled fear and nightmares in all of us for more than half a decade and I am so glad to see it come to an acceptable end.
https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/nirbhayas-friend-was-making-money-by-giving-interviews-after-the-incident-a-journalist-has-said-we-hope-its-not-true/
