Another mercy plea rejected; Dec 16 convicts to be hanged together, says HC

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the four convicts facing death penalty in the December 16 gangrape-murder case, the Home Ministry officials confirmed on Wednesday.

This is the third mercy plea that Kovind has rejected in the case. Singh had filed the mercy petition before the President a few days back, according to reports. The mercy pleas of two other convicts — Vinay Kumar Sharma and Mukesh Singh — already stand rejected by the President. They were scheduled to be hanged on February 1, but a Delhi court stayed the execution of the convicts until further orders. Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court held that all the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case are to be executed together and not separately, and set a week's deadline for them to avail of the remaining remedies. If the convicts choose not to make any type of petition in seven days from now, the institutions/authorities concerned will deal with the matter, as per the law, without further delay, it said.