New Delhi: The four convicts in the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student were hanged at Delhi's Tihar Jail at 5:30 am today. After the hanging, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Justice has prevailed." He further said that together we have build a nation where there is focus on women empowerment and also an emphasis on equality and opportunity.
After three of the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case moved the Delhi high court Thursday evening challenging the trial court order declining to stay their execution scheduled for early Friday morning, Supreme Court today also rejected the petition of death row convicts and refused to defer the execution.
Hundreds of people, carrying the national flag and shouting slogans of ''long live Nirbhaya'' and ''Bharat Mata ki Jai'', gathered outside the Tihar Jail, with some of them distributing sweets after the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case were executed.
A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court consisting of Justice R Banumathi, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice AS Bopanna began hearing the case around 2:30 am.
The victim's had parents expressed confidence before the Supreme Court began hearing the petition and said that the top court will dismiss their plea and the four convicts will be hanged today as scheduled.
"Their time is up and they will be hanged at 5:30 am today," Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi had said.
Here are the updates of the Nirbhaya Case:
Mar 20, 2020 18:06 (IST)
Nirbhaya Case: One broke down, other rapists didn't show resistance while being taken for hanging
None of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case put up any resistance when they were being taken to the gallows on Friday but Vinay Sharma broke down, a Tihar jail official said.
The convicts also did not show any signs of anxiety on the night before their execution and skipped breakfast on Friday, he said.
"The four convicts showed no signs of anxiety last evening or put up any resistance while being taken to the gallows for hanging. Vinay broke down when he was being taken for the execution," the official said.
Anticipating that the convicts might show some resistance, strongmen were kept on standby, he said, reported news agency (PTI).
Mar 20, 2020 17:59 (IST)
Nirbhaya Case: Bodies of rapists handed over to families
Bodies of the four Nirbhaya gang rape and murder convicts were handed over to their respective families for last rites on Friday after the post-mortem was conducted at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in Delhi, jail officials said.
Jail officials said the bodies were kept hanging for half an hour, a mandatory procedure after execution as per the prison manual.
"After the doctor examined the bodies and declared all four dead, they were sent to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for the autopsy. Later, their bodies were handed over to their families," Director General of Tihar Jail Sandeep Goel said.
According to a senior jail official, Akshay's body will be taken to his village in Bihar's Aurangabad. "The family members of Mukesh will take his body to Rajasthan. The bodies of Vinay and Pawan will be shifted to their houses at Ravidas Camp in south Delhi," they said.
Earlier, their family members rushed to the hospital for the necessary paper work before the autopsy.
There were elaborate security arrangements at the hospital, especially near the mortuary. No person, except the hospital staff and the relatives of convicts, was allowed near the mortuary.
This is the first time that four convicts have been hanged together in Tihar Jail, South Asia's largest prison complex that houses more than 16,000 inmates.
Mar 20, 2020 17:55 (IST)
Nirbhaya Case: Minister, jurist join Nirbhaya family to call for plugging loopholes in rape laws
Political leaders, jurists and Bollywood celebrities on Friday joined the family of Nirbhaya to call for plugging loopholes in the rape laws to ensure those on death row for this crime are not allowed to "manipulate" the legal system for delaying the execution.
"It's a day of satisfaction that a daughter, who underwent so much pain, has got justice," Mr Prasad told reporters in Parliament premises.
"It's time for judiciary, government and civil society to introspect whether death row convicts can be allowed to manipulate system and cause delay."
Retired Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde expressed concern that it took a "long-time" to give effect to the top court's final judgement in the Nirbhaya case and called for steps to curb the misuse of the system.
"... the time taken to ultimately give effect to the final judgement of the Supreme Court gives rise to some sort of a thinking in the mind of the people: Is justice really functioning?" Mr Hegde told PTI.
Mar 20, 2020 14:59 (IST)
Nirbhaya Verdict: Nirbhaya Convicts Hanging "Dark Stain" In Indian's Human Rights: Amnesty International
Death penalty is never the solution. Hanging of Nirbhaya convicts a 'dark stain' on India's human rights record: Amnesty International India.
Mar 20, 2020 14:06 (IST)
Nirbhaya Verdict: Nirbhaya's Ancestral Village Celebrated After 4 Convicts Hanged
It was both Holi and Diwali, so to speak, in Nirbhaya's ancestral village of Medwara Kala in Uttar Pradesh where her family members and locals gathered for celebrations after the hanging of the four men convicted of the gangrape with her grandfather saying Friday marked a new beginning.
"March 20 should be celebrated as 'Nirbhaya Diwas'. It is a new beginning. The convicts were more dangerous than the ''corona'' and they are no more now," Nirbhaya's grandfather Lalji Singh said referring to the coronavirus outbreak.
After the rape incident, we have not celebrated Holi or Diwali but we are celebrating both today, he remarked.
"The accused would have been executed earlier had Delhi's AAP government not favoured a mercy petition. There should be a time-bound decision on women-related crimes," he said.
Nirbhaya's uncle Suresh Singh along with other villagers chanted 'Mil gaya, Nirbhaya ko nyay' (Nirbhaya got justice) and danced to tunes and played musical instruments while playing with colours.
Mar 20, 2020 13:45 (IST)
Nirbhaya Verdict: Law Had Taken Its Course: Safdarjung Doctors Who Operated Nibhaya
Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital who treated "Nirbhaya" in 2012 remembered her as a "brave woman" and said that with the hanging of the four convicts law had taken its course.
The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was brutally gangraped in a moving bus by six men, including a juvenile, on the night of December 16, 2012. She was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital before being airlifted to Singapore for treatment where she succumbed to injuries.
Dr BD Athani, who was the medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital when Nirbhaya was treated, said they have got "closure".
"I was involved in the medical management part of it. It was a very heinous crime that they committed. Law has taken its course. We had referred the patient to Singapore. We have got closure as far as this patient is concerned," he said.
Dr Athani said they were under immense pressure at that time and despite that "medically, the case withstood scrutiny".
"We did not spare any efforts in treating her and tried till the end. I appreciate the team of doctors. Right from the senior resident who was on duty when she was brought to the hospital to the other doctors.
They were all emotionally affected but it did not affect the treatment," he said.
Mar 20, 2020 13:17 (IST)
Nirbhaya Verdict: 4 Nirbhaya Convicts Didn't Take Bath, Skipped Breakfast: Officials
The four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, who were hanged in Tihar jail early morning on Friday, did not take a bath and also skipped their breakfast, the last meal, before the execution of sentence.
According to officials, two of the convicts - Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma - had their dinner on time, which included roti, dal, rice, and sabzi. On the other hand, Akshay Singh Thakur and Pawan Gupta did not have their dinner. However, Akshay Singh Thakur had tea on Thursday evening.
The convicts were given regular updates on the midnight hearing in the court.
The convicts were wearing the same clothes they were wearing last night when they were hanged, sources told.
According to sources in Tihar Jail, convict Mukesh Singh had wished to donate his organs and had given it in writing to the authorities ahead of the execution. Vinay Sharma, on the other hand, offered Jail Superintendent to keep the paintings made by him in jail.
Mar 20, 2020 13:12 (IST)
Nirbhaya Verdict: Ex-Delhi Police Chief Says Nirbhaya Case "Most Critical" In His 37-Year Career
Neeraj Kumar, who headed the Delhi Police when Nirbhaya was gang-raped and murdered in 2012, on Friday said it was the "most critical" case in his 37-year career.
Expressing relief at the outcome of the case after the four convicts were hanged in Tihar Jail, the 1976-batch IPS officer said his reputation was at stake with the case that caught the attention of the entire country.
Had this case not been brought to its logical conclusion, "all that I had done in my professional career would have been negated", he said.
Mr Kumar, who is credited with many successful investigations that include deportation of dreaded terrorist Aftab Ansari, said the case was all the more important for him as there was a vociferous demand for his resignation and the world suddenly started "baying for my blood".
The incident was shocking and hearts of everyone from the police probe team were bleeding as more dirty details about the case surfaced one after another, he said.
Mar 20, 2020 12:15 (IST)
Nirbhaya Verdict: All Loopholes In IPC, CrPC Revealed Through Nirbhaya Case: Minister
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that all the loopholes in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), CrPC (Code Of Criminal Conduct) surfaced after the Nirbhaya case. He said quick punishment should be given in such matters. He said that Indian government should make some changes in the IPC and CrPC.
Mar 20, 2020 08:50 (IST)
Arvind Kejriwal On Nirbhaya Convicts' Hanging
"It took seven years for justice to be delivered. Today, we've to take a pledge that a similar incident does not happen again. We've seen how the convicts manipulated the law until recently. There are a lot of loopholes in our system, we need to improve the system," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
