DCW urges Pres to reject Nirbhaya convict's mercy plea

DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Thursday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to reject the mercy petition filed by one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case and ensure that the accused are hanged before December 16, the day the brutal crime was committed seven years ago.

Maliwal's hunger strike to demand capital punishment for rapists within six months of their conviction entered the third day on Thursday.

Citing the Unnao incident, where a rape survivor was burnt allegedly by five men, including two accused of raping her and the Hyderabad veterinarian gangrape and murder case, Maliwal in her letter to Kovind said the root cause for these crimes is the complete absence of fear of certain and swift punishment in the minds of the criminals.

Due to the extremely slow justice process, no criminal is afraid to commit such gory crimes, she said in the letter.

A 23-year-old paramedic student was gang-raped on December 16, 2012. She later succumbed to her injuries. The brutality of the rape had rocked the nation leading to massive protests.

Four men -- Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh -- are facing the gallows for the crime. The fifth accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail in March in 2013 and the sixth, a convicted juvenile was sentenced to three years of punishment in a reform home, and released in 2015.

Vinay had filed a mercy petition before the president. The Delhi government had rejected the mercy plea. The file rejecting the mercy plea was sent by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to the Home Ministry.

Maliwal said it is "unfortunate" that more than seven years have passed since the gruesome rape and murder of Nirbhaya in 2012, and till date, there has been no justice done.

Nirbhaya's mother is still running from pillar to post in order to ensure that her beloved daughter can get justice, Maliwal said.

"There appears to be no end to this case and the wait for justice for Nirbhaya keeps dragging on. In this regard, I urge you to kindly reject the mercy petitions and ensure that the convicts are hanged before December 16," she said.

She also urged Kovind to direct the Centre to fulfil the demands of the panel.

The demands include hanging of rapists within six months of their conviction, immediate hanging of Nirbhaya's rapists, time-bound redressal of mercy petitions and increase in police resources.

The demands also include creation of more fast-track courts and an optimum usage of the Nirbhaya fund. The Delhi Commission for Women has also stressed on digitising the police force and creating a software to fix police accountability in such incidents.

Maliwal launched her fast at Jantar Mantar here on Tuesday, but later, she and her supporters were shifted to Samta Sthal, the memorial of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram.

She had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, demanding that rapists be hanged within six months of their conviction. She had also urged female MPs on Wednesday to raise the panel' demands in both the Houses of the Parliament.