Nirbhaya: President rejects death-row convict Mukesh Singh's mercy plea

New Delhi, Jan 17: 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.

The four convicts - Mukesh Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 a.m. in Tihar Jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.

"We have shifted all the four convicts to jail number three of Tihar, where the execution is set to take place," a senior jail official said.

Till now, Vinay Sharma was lodged in jail number four, while Akshay, Mukesh and Pawan were lodged in jail number two of Tihar.