SC reaffirms death sentence to four in Nirbhaya case

The Supreme Court on Monday reaffirmed its verdict upholding the death sentence to four convicts who gangraped and murdered Nirbhaya.

Dismissing the plea for the recall of the May 5, 2017 verdict upholding the death sentence, Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan said that the petition lacked grounds for a review.

Pronouncing the judgement, Justice Bhushan said the review petition must show an error resulting in miscarriage of justice. He said none of the petitions by the convicts pointed out to an error leading to miscarriage of justice.

A young professional, Nirbhaya, as she came to be known, was brutally sexually assaulted in a moving bus by five men -- one of whom committed suicide in prison -- on December 16, 2012.

The crime triggered nationwide outrage. Nirbhaya died in a Singapore hospital.

The court also said that the hearing on the appeals against the Delhi High Court judgement confirming the death sentence lasted 38 days as the lawyers for the four convicts were given full opportunity to state their case.

--IANS

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