Nirbhaya Case: DCW Issues Notice to Tihar Jail Over 'Delay' in Execution of Convicts

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice on Monday to Tihar Jail authorities over "delay" in execution of convicts in the December 15, 2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case.

In May last year, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence to four men convicted of the savage rape and murder of the 23-year-old paramedic student, terming it as an attack "most brutal, barbaric and diabolical".

In July this year, the apex court dismissed review pleas filed by three of the convicts while the fourth convict did not seek a review.

Issuing the notice to Tihar Jail authorities, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal demanded an explanation over the "delay" in execution of these convicts. She said that they "should be executed at the earliest in order to create a strong deterrence in the society".

Maliwal said the authorities have been asked to inform whether an order authorizing the execution of the sentence of the death has been issued or not. "Further, submit reasons, in case execution orders have not been issued. The authorities have been asked to submit reply by 15.09.2018," it said.

Six men had assaulted the woman, who was later known as "Nirbhaya" (the fearless), and a male friend in a moving bus as it drove through the streets of New Delhi.

She was thrown out of the bus -so grievously injured that her insides were spilling out - along with her male friend near the airport.

A fortnight later, on December 29, 2012, she succumbed in a Singapore hospital.

"Our country's capital, Delhi, is today disgraced with having received the tag of 'Rape Capital' of the world. A major reason for such crimes to continue unabated is the lack of deterrence created by the system," Maliwal said.

"There appears to be hardly any fear of law in the minds of the perpetrators. Therefore, it is extremely crucial that the death sentence awarded to the rapists of Nirbhaya is executed at the earliest in order to create a strong deterrence in the society. Nirbhaya and her parents deserve justice," she was quoted as saying in a statement by the DCW.