Nirbhaya’s killer inching towards gallows as LG rejects mercy plea

New Delhi, Dec 03: Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has also recommended rejecting the mercy petition filed by one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya murder case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.

The development comes a day after the Delhi Government recommended rejection of the mercy petition of Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts facing the gallows for the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student.

Vinay Sharma had filed a mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind.

The Delhi Government and LG's recommendations will be sent to the president who will take the final call on the matter.

"Today, we have received the LG's approval to reject the mercy petition (of Vinay Sharma) and today we will send our recommendations to the president," the Chief Minister said in the Delhi Assembly.

He said the government wants a stringent penalty for rape and murder convicts, adding that there is no need for leniency.

According to Kejriwal, the president had sought comments from the Delhi Government on the mercy petition filed by one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya murder case.

On Sunday, the AAP government "strongly recommended" rejecting Vinay Sharma's mercy petition.

"This is the most heinous crime of extreme brutality committed by the applicant (Vinay Sharma). This is the case where exemplary punishment should be given to deter others from committing such atrocious crimes," a source quoted Jain as saying in the file noting on Sunday.

The Delhi home minister had also said, "There is no merit in mercy petition, strongly recommended for rejection."

Sharma is in Tihar jail since his arrest in the case and had filed a mercy plea, while Mukesh, another convict, had refused, according to officials.

The paramedic student was raped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, inside a running bus in south Delhi by six persons and severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road.

She died on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, where she was airlifted from Delhi for treatment.

One of the accused Ram Singh had hanged himself in the jail and another accused, a juvenile, was convicted of rape and murder and given the maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment in a reform facility.

The fourth death row convict, Akshay Kumar Singh (33), had not filed a review plea in the Supreme Court.