Nirbhaya convicts to be hanged on Mar 20 at 5.30 am

New Delhi, Mar 05: The four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case will now be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 am. This is the fourth death warrant issued by a Delhi court.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana fixed March 20 as the new date of execution after it was told by the Delhi government that the convicts have exhausted all their legal remedies.

The hanging of Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) besides Pawan previously scheduled for March 3 was deferred for the third time in six weeks by the court on Monday in yet another twist in the case marked by apparent delaying tactics by the condemned prisoners. The President has already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay.

The first date of execution-January 22-fixed on January 7 was postponed by the court to February 1. But on January 31, the court indefinitely postponed the hanging. On February 17, the court again issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3 at 6 am.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012 in a moving bus in south Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

The convicts have used all leagal remedies, including review petitions and curative petitions in a staggered manner in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order on March 13, 2014 confirming the death sentence.

The last option of mercy petition before the President to escape the gallows was exercised by the convicts one by one.