After SC dismisses curative petitions, Nirbhaya's mother says 'big day for me'

Shortly after the Supreme Court dismissed curative petitions of the two death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case, victim's mother Asha Devi said that it is a big day for her but added that the "biggest day" will be January 22 when convicts will be hanged.

"This is a big day for me. I had been struggling for the last 7 years. But the biggest day will be 22nd January when they (convicts) will be hanged," Asha Devi told ANI while flashing victory signs.

A five-judge Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the petitions filed by Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh.

The duo had moved the curative petitions in the top court after a Delhi court issued death warrants in their names for their hanging on January 22.

Besides them, two other convicts named Pawan and Akshay are also slated to be executed on the same day at 7 am in Delhi's Tihar Jail premises. They were convicted and sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in the national capital on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012.

The victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya, had succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment.

After the rejection of pleas, the convicts are legally bound to move a mercy petition before the President, who has the power to commute it to life imprisonment.