Smriti Irani slams AAP over delay in hanging of Nirbhaya convicts

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the delay in commuting the death sentence to the four convicts of Nirbhaya gang-rape case after the review petition of the rapists was dismissed in July 2018.

"Why was the prison department, which comes under the AAP government, sleeping after the dismissal of review petition in July 2018? Why did the government give Rs 10,000 and a sewing kit to juvenile rapist when he was released? Did not they see tears of Nirbhaya's mother?" Irani said.

Earlier today, a Delhi court had issued a fresh death warrant against the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case who will now be executed on February 1 at 6 am. Earlier, they were to be hanged on February 22 at 7 am.

This came after the public prosecutor representing the Tihar jail authorities requested the court to issue fresh date and time of execution.

Four convicts, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan and Mukesh 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.