NEW DELHI: The four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case were hanged to death at 5:30 a.m. in Delhi’s Tihar jail on Friday, bringing the end of long wait for justice for ‘Nirbhaya’, the 23-year-old paramedic student. Here is a timeline of events in the case.
- 2012:
- December 16: The victim and her male friend board a bus from Delhi’s Munerka bus stand. Six men, including a juvenile, thrashed the male friend and gang-raped the victim on the moving bus before throwing both of them out near Aerocity.
- December 18-22: Delhi Police arrest all six suspects.
- December 29: Nirbhaya succumbs to fatal internal injuries caused as a result of the rape.
- 2013:
- March 11: Suspect Ram Singh commits suicide in Tihar Jail
- September 1: Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) sends the juvenile to a correction home for three years.
- September 13: Fast Track Court (FTC) awards death penalty to all four convicts.
- 2014:
- March 13: Delhi High Court upholds death penalty
- 2017:
- May 5: Supreme Court upholds death penalty.
- November 8: Mukesh files review petition in SC.
- December 15: Vinay and Pawan move SC for review of its verdict.
- 2018:
- July 9: SC dismisses review pleas of Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay
- 2019:
- February: Nirbhaya’s parents move trial court for issuance of death warrants of the four convicts.
- December 10: Akshay moves plea in SC seeking review of his death penalty
- December 13: Nirbhaya’s mother moves SC opposing review plea of Akshay
- December 18: SC dismisses Akshay’s review plea.
- December 19: Delhi HC dismisses plea of Pawan claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the offence.
- 2020:
- January 7: Trial court signs death ‘black’ warrants for all four convicts to hang on January 22, 2020 (7 am).
- January 14: SC rejects curative petition of Vinay and Mukesh; Mukesh files mercy petition before President.
- January 17: President Ram Nath Kovind rejects mercy plea of Mukesh; trial court issues death warrants again with execution date as February 1, 2020 (6 am).
- January 25: Mukesh moves SC against rejection of mercy plea.
- January 29: Akshay approaches SC with a curative petition; SC rejects plea of Mukesh challenging rejection of his mercy plea.
- January 30: SC dismisses curative plea of Akshay.
- January 31: SC dismisses plea filed by Pawan seeking review of its order rejecting his juvenility claim; trial court postpones execution of the black warrants till further order for a second time.
- February 1: Centre moves Delhi HC against the trial court order.
- February 5: Delhi HC dismisses Centre’s plea against the trial court order, says all four convicts have to be hanged together; it further directs the convicts to pursue all legal remedies within a week, failing which the authorities ordered to take action in accordance with law; President rejects mercy petition of Akshay.
- February 6: President rejects mercy petition of Akshay.
- February 7: Trial court dismisses Tihar’s plea seeking fresh date for execution of convicts.
- February 11: Vinay moves SC against mercy plea rejection; SC issues notices to all four death row convicts on Centre’s appeal against Delhi HC verdict.
- February 13: Vinay alleges torture in jail, SC reserves order on his mercy review; SC defers hearing on separate hangings and appoints a new lawyer for Pawan.
- February 14: SC dismisses Vinay’s plea against no mercy, rejects the argument of mental illness.
- February 17: Trial court issues March 3 execution date.
- February 22: Trial court dismisses Vinay’s plea for medical treatment.
- February 28: Pawan files curative petition in SC.
- March 2: SC dismisses PIL seeking direction on organ donation by the four death row convicts; Patiala House court dismisses plea by convicts for a stay on death warrant; Pawan files mercy plea after the rejection of the curative petition by SC a day before scheduled hanging.
- March 3: For the third time, trial court defers hanging of the four death row convicts.
- March 4: Delhi government moves court seeking fresh date for execution for convicts; Pawan’s mercy plea rejected.
- March 5, 2020: Trial court signs death warrants for March 20 (5:30 am)
- March 7: SC rejects Mukesh’s plea seeking urgent hearing on Monday.
- March 13: Vinay moves Delhi HC claiming procedural lapse in mercy plea rejection.
- March 16: Convicts move International Court of Justice (ICJ); SC dismisses Mukesh’s plea to refile curative, mercy petition.
- March 17: Akshay writes a second mercy plea to the President after the first was rejected; trial court dismisses Mukesh’s plea seeking quashing of the death penalty.
- March 18: Convicts’ counsel AP Singh moves Delhi’s Patiala House court seeking a stay on the death warrants on March 18; Delhi HC reserves order on Mukesh’s plea claiming absence from Delhi at time of incident.
- March 19: Supreme Court dismisses the petition of death row convict Pawan against the rejection of his mercy plea by the President and seeking a stay on execution; Delhi High Court dismisses plea challenging lower court’s refusal to stay death warrants.
- March 20: All the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case were executed at 5.30 am in Tihar jail.
