Nirbhaya case: President rejects mercy plea of Akshay Thakur

Thakur had filed for a mercy plea after the President turned down the appeal of fellow convict Vinay Sharma.

A mercy plea to the President is the last option for a convict awarded death penalty.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday set seven days dateline for Nirbhaya gangrape convicts to exercise all their legal remedies.

The authority will act in accordance to the law following that period.

The direction was given by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait of the Delhi High Court.

Justice Kait, however, rejected the Centre’s appeal against the trial court’s order that put off their execution on February 1 and the request to hang two of them - Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma - because they had exhausted their legal options, reported Hindustan Times.

A Delhi court on Friday deferred the execution of four Nirbhaya gangrape victims which was scheduled for Saturday.

The court deferred the executions until further orders.

The convicts were set to be executed at 6 am on Saturday.

On Dec 16, 2012, Nirbhaya, who was a 23-year female physiotherapy intern, was gang-raped, assaulted and tortured at a private bus in Delhi when she was travelling with her friend.

She was raped by six people including the driver of the bus.

The victim had succumbed to her injuries 13 days after the horrific crime was committed.

The incident had sparked national and international outrage. Both the state and central government were brought under the scanner for not providing adequate protection to women in the national capital.