Nirbhaya Rape convicts to be produced in Patiala court today

New Delhi: Four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case will be produced in the Patiala House Court on Friday via video conferencing owing to security reasons. The four convicts have an active threat to their lives. The case pertains to gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student on December 16, 2012.

Advocates of the four convicts of Nirbhaya gang rape will file an affidavit in the Patiala House Court on Friday morning and then the case will be heard through a video conference.

The court is currently hearing a petition filed by the parents of the victim seeking the execution of all the convicts to be expedited.

All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail. The Supreme Court sentenced the accused to capital punishment for the four Nirbhaya gang rape convicts in 2017.

Advocate Seema Kushwaha, the counsel working on behalf of Nirbhaya's parents, sought issuance of death warrant against the convicts without further delay. The case has been delayed for seven years now.

Reacting to the court hearing, Nirbhaya's mother said, "I would say that the death warrants should be released and the convicts be hanged at the earliest. It has been two and a half years since the Supreme Court passed the order on their conviction and 18 months since their review petitions were dismissed. I have appealed to the court and government to hang them immediately. Nothing has changed even after seven years, even today the girls are being burnt to death and the system is sitting silently," she said.

Meanwhile, one of the convicts, Vinay, moved a mercy petition last month but later sought to withdraw it. Another convict, Akshay Kumar Singh, moved the Supreme Court earlier this week seeking review of its verdict.

The Supreme Court will hear on December 17 the review petition filed by Akshay Kumar Singh. A three-judge bench will hear the petition, which was filed by Singh on Tuesday.