Convicts in Nirbhaya case to be hanged soon: Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi, Feb 05: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday assured Lok Sabha that convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case will be hanged soon. The culprits are trying to delay punishment which is not justified, he said.

Several members especially women MPs across party lines raised the issue of attack on women in various parts of the country. Expressing deep anguish over such incidents, Prasad said, "I have deep concern in this regard."

As far as hanging of convicts in the Nirbhaya case is concerned, the minister said, the Supreme Court has already sentenced them to death.

"We are very strict...justice will be given to her. Convicts will be hanged soon," he assured the House.

Nirbhaya, 23-year-old paramedic student, was raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons, before being thrown out on the road.

She died on December 29, 2012 in Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital. The trial court on January 7 had issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts in Tihar jail at 7 AM on January 22.

However, they could not be hanged due to pendency of mercy petition of one of them. Later, on January 17, the trial court fixed February 1, 6 AM as the hanging date and time.

On January 31, the trial court again stayed the execution as the counsel for three convicts -- Pawan, Vinay and Akshay -- urged it to adjourn the matter "sine die", saying their legal remedies were yet to be exhausted.

Raising the issue of a college teacher being set afire by a stalker in Wardha district of Maharashtra, Ashok Nete (BJP) said the government should provide adequate compensation to the victim, looking at her condition.

He demanded that the accused should be punished and the matter be referred to a fast track court.

Prasad said a decision in this regard would be taken by the Maharashtra government. Earlier this week, a 25-year-old woman college teacher was set ablaze by a stalker in Hinganghat town of Wardha. The accused, a married man who has a seven-month-old son, used to stalk the woman. He has been arrested and remanded in police custody till Saturday.