Nirbhaya gang-rape convict moves mercy petition before President

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Nirbhaya gang-rape convict Mukesh Singh on Tuesday moved a mercy petition before President, said Tihar Jail official.

The move comes after the Supreme Court dismissed curative petitions of the two death row convicts, including Mukesh Singh, in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case.

"Convict Mukesh Singh has moved mercy petition today," said the Tihar jail official.

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.

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.