GUWAHATI: On January 31, the four Nirbhaya convicts extracted another last-minute reprieve as a Delhi court postponed their execution indefinitely hours before they were to be hanged.
"Death warrant has been canceled and no new date has been given," said the lawyer of one of the convicts, AP Singh.
Nirbhaya's mother wept as she said that the convict's lawyer had "challenged" her in court.
A new petition was filed today before the Supreme Court. It is the mercy petition filed by convict Vinay Sharma that secured today's reprieve. Even if the President rejects it today, the convict has to be given 14 days till execution.
Review, curative and mercy petitions have been filed by the four men in their attempts to stall their execution, set for tomorrow at 6 am.
The hangman arrived yesterday at Tihar jail in Delhi, where the convicts Pawan, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Singh and Vinay Sharma were to be hanged together.
On December 16, 2012, the young woman who came to be known as "Nirbhaya" was gang-raped by six men on a moving bus, tortured with an iron rod and thrown off the vehicle. She died on December 29.
The savage assault stunned the nation and angry protesters filled the streets in their demand for justice.
Of the six men, one was found hanging in jail. The youngest, just short of 18 when the crime was committed, was released after three years in a reform home.
Nirbhaya's parents say the four men should be hanged tomorrow instead of being allowed to exploit the law to delay the process.
