Ministry of Home Affairs sources on Thursday confirmed that its has received mercy petition of Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case convict Mukesh Singh from Delhi government with a recommendation to reject it.
Home Ministry has received mercy petition of 2012 Delhi gang-rape case convict Mukesh Singh from Delhi government and it is under process, MHA sources were quoted as saying by ANI.
The MHA is expected to soon forward the plea to President Ram Nath Kovind with its recommendation.
Mukesh Singh filed a mercy plea before the President on Tuesday, the day his curative petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Earlier on Thursday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh and sent it to the MHA for further action. The government of had recommended to reject his mercy plea on Wednesday and had sent it to the LG Anil Baijal.
This came after the Delhi High Court refused to stay death warrants of four convicts. Mukesh then moved to trial court, asking it to delay the execution as the mercy plea is pending before the President.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Delhi government told the High Court that the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape cannot be hanged on January 22, a date that was scheduled for their execution.
23-year-old paramedic student Nirbhaya was gang-raped and brutalised on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, before being dumped on the road. She was airlifted to Singapore where she died on December 29, 2012.
Six people, including a juvenile, were arrested for the crime. The juvenile was released after serving a three-year term at a juvenile home, one convict allegedly committed suicide in jail while four others – Mukesh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) – are scheduled to be hanged on January 22.
Source: dnaindia.com