President Kovind rejects convict Pawan's mercy plea

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President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of Pawan, one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case. Earlier in the day, Pawan's curative plea was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier in the day. The court had earlier in the day dismissed Pawan's and Akshay Kumar's Singh's applications for staying their death warrants.

Pawan's Lawyer AP Singh moved court on Monday saying that he has filed a mercy plea and execution ought to be stayed. In the hearing, the court pulled up Singh saying, "You are playing with fire, you should be cautious" and added "one wrong move by anybody, and you know the consequences."

A 23-year-old woman, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. She succumbed to injuries days later, on December 29, at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where she was taken for better medical treatment.

A total of six people -- Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta, Ram Singh and a juvenile -- were convicted in the gang rape and murder of the paramedic student here.

The President has already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay. While Ram Singh had committed suicide in jail, the juvenile was released from custody after completion of his term.

(With PTI inputs)

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