Nirbhaya case: Tihar jail may approach Meerut hangman

Tihar Jail authorities are likely to approach a hangman in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut Jail to carry out the execution of Nirbhaya rapists.

This comes against the backdrop of a local court issuing death warrants against the four convicts -- Akshay, Mukesh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma -- in the case.

The 23-year-old para-medic was gang-raped by six persons in a moving bus in south Delhi on 16 December 2016 and the case became a flashpoint for changes in rape laws as people were enraged over the brutality inflicted on her.

She was thrown out of the bus naked after the rape along with her male friend who was accompanying her. One of the convicts Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail while a minor served three years in a juvenile home and was released later.

Earlier, a hangman in Meerut Jail Pawan Jallad had expressed his willingness to carry out the executions. Pawan is the grandson of Kallu Jallad, a hangman who had carried out the execution of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassins. Pawan's father Babua was also a hangman.

Tihar Jail does not have a hangman of its own.

After the move to execute them gained momentum, jail officials had kept a close watch on them to ensure that they do not take any extreme step. Officials had said that they had shown signs of depression.

While jail authorities are tight-lipped about the plans, they had received several requests from people who are willing to act as hangman.

A Tamil Nadu Head Constable Subash Srinivasan has also written to Tihar Jail. An international shooter Vartika Singh also wrote a letter in blood to Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his permission to let her hang the convicts.