Rape, double murder convict : SC stays execution till October 16

New Delhi,: Three days ahead of the scheduled hanging of a death row convict for "horribly" gang raping a minor girl and killing her along with her brother in Coimbatore in 2010, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed his execution till October 16.

A bench headed by Justice R F Nariman said it would hear on October 16 the plea filed by convict Manoharan seeking a review of the apex court's August 1 verdict had which confirmed his death penalty.

During the open court hearing on the review plea, the bench, which also comprised justices Sanjiv Khanna and Surya Kant, said it was granting "last opportunity" to the counsel representing the convict to argue the case since it was a matter of death sentence.

The counsel told the bench that a death warrant has been issued and he was scheduled to be executed on September 20.

The top court had on August 1 sent Manoharan to gallows for "horribly" gang-raping a 10-year-old girl along with a co-accused and killing her and her seven-year-old brother by throwing them in a canal with their hands tied.

Terming the offence as "shocking" and "cold blooded", a three-judge bench, by a majority of 2:1, had upheld the verdicts of the trial court and the Madras High Court to award death penalty to the condemned convict saying that the offence fell under the "rarest of rare" category.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the counsel representing the convict told the bench that throughout the trial in the case, Manoharan was lodged in jail and seven advocates were changed in the matter due to which the convict was not duly represented from trial court to the top court.