New execution date issued for 2012 Delhi gang rapists following second delay

A new execution date has been issued for the perpetrators of a brutal gang rape and murder in the Indian capital of Delhi in December 2012.

Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh were sentenced to death in 2013, after they and two others viciously assaulted and raped a university student on a bus as she made her way home from seeing a movie.

The execution of the four men was originally set to take place on January 22, and later on February 1, but following curative and mercy pleas from several of the convicts, the execution date has now been pushed back to March 3 at 6am.

Speaking on the development, the victim’s mother expressed that she was hopeful the execution will go ahead on March 3 as planned.

However, there remains a possibility that the hanging could be delayed a third time, as Pawan Gupta can still file either a curative plea, or mercy plea.