Indian president rejects Nirbhaya convict's mercy plea

The mercy petition of Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, was rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday, sources told PTI.

This comes hours after the Union Home Ministry had forwarded the plea, recommending its rejection to the President, the news agency had reported.

“We are happy that the chances of them getting hanged have increased. We are assured that as soon as they file mercy pleas they will be rejected,” the father of the 23-year-old paramedic student, who was gangraped and brutally assaulted in December 2012, said.

On Wednesday, the Delhi government had informed the Delhi High Court that the four death row convicts will not be hanged, as their mercy petition was pending before the President. The four were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am.

Pointing out that the right to seek mercy is a Constitutional right, Grover said, “The applicant is entitled to a fair consideration of his mercy plea without the shadow of the noose hanging over him… There is no purpose in keeping the warrant alive as it is in defiance of law,” advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Mukesh, had said.

Meanwhile, Asha Devi, mother of the victim, blamed political parties for exploiting her daughter’s death for “political gains” and “delaying” the hanging of the four convicts. Speaking to news agency ANI, she urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfill his 2014 campaign promise of women safety and ensure that the culprits are hanged to death on January 22, as earlier decided by a Delhi court.

“The same people who took to the streets to protest against the incident in 2012 are now using my daughter’s death for political gains,” she said. “I feel stuck in the middle of this blame game,” Asha Devi added.

Source: Indian Express