New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh Singh, one of the four men convicted in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, sources said.
The rejection came soon after the Union Home Ministry forwarded the petition to the president on Friday morning.
Mukesh Singh had filed the mercy petition a few days ago. On Wednesday, Mukesh also moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the death warrant issued on 7 January by a sessions court. The petition was rejected.
This, however, will mean that the hanging of the four convicts will not take place on 22 January, as was first decided by the Delhi sessions court. As per the guidelines stipulated by the Supreme Court, a convict must be given 14 days time between being informed that his mercy plea has been rejected and his execution.
“It’s a very good thing. Our hopes have gone up after the disheartening news that the execution might be delayed,” the young woman’s father told PTI as news came in of the rejection.
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