Nirbhaya convicts to be hanged on March 3 at 6 am

New Delhi, Feb 17: A Delhi court on Monday issued a fresh death warrant to all the four convicts in the 2012 Delh gangrape case. They will now be hanged on March 3 at 6 am.

This is the third black warrant issued by the court, the two earlier ones issued could not be carried out as the convicts used every legal loophole to delay the execution.

The court was hearing the applications by Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government, seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

Tihar Jail authorities also filed a status report before the court, stating that no legal option was preferred by any of the convicts in last seven-day-period, granted by the High Court.

Meanwehile, Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the case told the court that he does not want to be represented by advocate Vrinda Grover. The court then appointed advocate Ravi Qazi to represent Mukesh.

During hearing of applications that were moved by the Delhi government and Nirbhaya's parents, the convict's lawyer reportedly said that Vinay is suffering from an acute mental illness, hence death sentence cannot be held.

According to reports, the court directed jail superintendent to take required care as per law after Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana was informed that the convict was on a hunger strike in Tihar jail.

On February 5, the High Court gave the convicts one week's time to exhaust their legal remedies and also rejected the government's prayer to allow them to be executed separately.

The 23-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and assaulted on the intervening night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. The victim later died of her injuries.