May 05, 2017: The Supreme Court will today deliver its verdict in the 16th December, 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. The fate of four convicts’ — Mukesh, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay would be decided for gang-raping a medical student in Delhi. The Police has sought death penalty for them.
During the trial, one accused, Ram Singh had allegedly committed suicide and one juvenile was sentenced by a remand home.
AIR correspondent reports, a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan would deliver the judgement in the case that shook the conscience of entire nation. The apex court on March 27, reserved its verdict against the conviction and death penalty awarded to them by the High Court on March 13, 2014.
The 23-year-old paramedic was brutally assaulted and raped by six persons on a moving bus in south Delhi and thrown out of the vehicle with her male friend on the night of December 16, 2012. She died in a Singapore hospital on December 29 the same year. Delhi Police had sought capital punishment for the convicts as the test of being a ‘rarest of rare’ case was satisfied, whereas the defence counsel had said that they deserved leniency considering their poor family background and young age.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, who has assisted the court as an amicus curiae, had told the bench that the evidence was not concrete and it does not warrant death penalty. Another senior counsel Raju Ramachandran, also an amicus curiae, had said that option of awarding jail term for the whole life to these convicts may also be considered.
The Supreme Court had reserved its order in the case after hearing the arguments from the convicts, the Delhi police and other parties. (AIR NEWS)
