SC dismisses Nirbhaya convict's plea challenging rejection of mercy petition

New Delhi, March 20
A three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi and comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A S Bopanna on Friday began hearing on the plea of Pawan Gupta, a death row convict in Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, who moved the court challenging the rejection of his mercy plea by the President.

The hanging of the four convicts in the case is scheduled at 5:30 am. In a last ditch effort, Pawan's counsel A P Singh moved the apex court to stay the execution of the accused

The convicts -- Vinay, Akshay, Pawan and Mukesh -- are slated to be executed at 5:30 a.m. on Friday, more than seven years after the crime took place in the heart of the national capital.

Even though the four men adopted all the manoeuvres to delay the hangings, justice will finally be imparted to India's daughter -- Nirbhaya -- on Friday.

The case pertains to the gruesome gang-rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, later dubbed as Nirbhaya, by six men in a moving bus on December 16, 2012. Her male friend was also assaulted following which the duo was thrown on the road. She succumbed to her injuries thirteen days later.

The attackers inserted rod inside her vagina and ripped her intestines apart. The brutality of the crime shook the nation to the core, leading to wide-spread protests and a drastic change in the country's rape laws.