NEW DELHI: One of the four rape convicts in Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, Akshay Thakur, on Tuesday evening filed a curative petition challenging his death penalty before the Supreme Court. Jail sources said the petition would not affect the execution process scheduled for Saturday morning. However, Thakur might soon file a mercy petition before the President, they added.
According to sources, each time the execution is deferred, the jail authorities have to spend nearly Rs 50,000 on fresh preparations.
“If a mercy petition is filed by even one of the convicts, the execution process of all the convicts will have to be deferred as per the jail manual since the men were involved in committing the same crime,” said a Tihar Jail official. Even after the President rejects the mercy plea, the convicts would be given a 14-day period to make peace with God, before the executions take place. They have time till Friday evening to file the mercy petition.
On Tuesday, the four convicts were asked to mention the dates of their last meeting with their family members. The hangman has already been asked to arrive by Friday.
Tihar authorities, meanwhile, sought details of the counselling sessions attended by the four convicts during their stay in the jail after their lawyer alleged that Mukesh was sodomised and forced to have a sexual relationship with the other convict, Akshay. However, so far they have not received any complaint from Mukesh or Akshay in this regard, added the prison authorities. A report has also been sought from the superintendents of jail number 2, where Mukesh was lodged to find out whether he’d registered any complaint with authorities there.
On Tuesday, Tihar authorities wrote to Delhi government to arrange for an autopsy of the four bodies after their hanging. As per the rules, the bodies are to be suspended for at least half an hour after the hanging. A doctor will then examine the body and declare the four convicts dead. The jail officials also wrote to the family members regarding the cremation of bodies.
Source: Economic Times
