Nirbhaya case: With four days left for hanging, Akshay Singh's family likely to visit him for final meeting

With just four days left for the execution, the family of Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case, is likely to visit Tihar in the next two days for the last meeting with him, officials said on Monday.

The four convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- are to be hanged together at 5.30 am on Friday, according to an order by a Delhi court earlier this month.

The jail authorities had written to the families after issuance of the fresh death warrant. Their death sentence had been deferred thrice.

Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay have had their last face-to-face meetings with their respective families.

However, Akshay's family has not had a face-to-face meeting with him. Face-to-face meeting is facilitated so that convicts can not only interact with their families members but they can also have a physical contact like hugging, a senior jail official said.

According to Tihar Prison manual, "it would be mandatory for prison authorities to facilitate and allow a final meeting between the prisoners and his family and friends prior to the execution".

Officials said the authorities had written to the family of Akshay Kumar Singh about the date for final meeting before the scheduled date of execution.

Akshay's wife had last met him in February. He, however, talks to his wife over the phone and said his family is likely to visit him in a day or two, jail officials said.

Prison authorities said the hangman, Pawan Jallad, will reach Tihar Jail on Tuesday evening, three days before the scheduled hanging.

Health checks-up of the convicts is being done once in a day. They are also being counselled on regular basis, they said.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (the fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. She died after a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case.

The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.