Delhi court issued death warrant against all 4 convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case on Tuesday. The execution will be held on 22nd January at 7 am in Jail No. 3 of the capital's Tihar Jail complex. This will be for the first time in the history of independent India that four convicts will be hanged together.
However, the court said that the convicts can use their legal remedies within 14 days. "We will file curative petition in Supreme Court," said Nirbhaya convicts' lawyer AP Singh.
In last 20 years, four people were hanged to death out of which only Dhanajoy Chatterjee was charged of rape and murder of a school girl while the other three were terrorists.
The execution of Chatterjee took place in Alipore Central Correctional Home, Kolkata, on August 14, 2004. It took 14 years to execute him. He was charged of rape and murder of Hetal Parekh, a 14-year-old school girl on March 5, 1990.
Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani militant and the mastermind of 2008 Mumbai attacks, was the second person who was executed on November 21, 2012 in Yerawada Central Jail, Pune. He was convicted for murder, conspiracy and waging war. It took 4 years to execute him.
Then on February 9, 2013, it was Kashmiri terrorist Afzal Guru who was hanged to death in Tihar jail. He was convicted for attacks on Parliament on December 13, 2001. It took 11 years to execute Guru. After the execution of Guru, no execution has been done in Tihar jail.
After Guru, on July 30, 2015, Yakub Memon was executed in Nagpur Central jail for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts. It took 22 years for the execution of Memon.
(With inputs from IANS)
