Hangman performs dummy execution of Nirbhaya rape convicts

Hangman Pawan on Wednesday performed a dummy execution of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case at Tihar Jail, two days ahead of their scheduled hanging on March 20, officials said.

Pawan had arrived from Meerut on Tuesday and conducted the dummy execution to test the ropes, which will be used to hang the four convicts, they said.

On March 5, a trial court here issued fresh warrants for March 20 at 5.30 am, as the date for the execution of Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

The death warrant was deferred thrice earlier.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. She died after a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused.

Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case while the juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.