Nirbhaya's mother protests outside court over delay in hanging of convicts

Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi Wednesday protested outside a trial court premises here, over the delay in the hanging of the four convicts in the gang rape and murder case of her daughter.

Her protests come right after the trial court offered Pawan Gupta legal counsel, one of the four death row convicts in the case, saying a condemned convict is entitled to legal aide till his last breath.

Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana expressed displeasure over delay from Pawan's side, who said he has removed his previous lawyer and will need time to engage a new one.

District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) provided Pawan's father with a list of its impaneled advocates to chose from.

Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government had moved the court on Tuesday, seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts, after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

The date of execution, first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order. The trial court later, on January 31 stayed the execution of four convicts "till further orders".

The Tihar jail authorities had filed a status report on Tuesday before the trial court stating that no legal option was preferred by any convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) - in last seven-day period, granted by the Delhi High Court.