New Delhi, January 17: A Delhi court on Friday issued a fresh death warrant against the convicts in 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case. As per the latest judicial order, the convicts would be hanged at 6 am on February 1. The new death warrant quashes the court's earlier order, when it had fixed January 22 as the date of execution. Nirbhaya Convicts Hanging: Tihar Jail in Delhi Performs Dummy Execution, Noose Tested With Stone-Filled Sacks.

The new death warrant was necessitated as the Tihar jail authorities had informed the court on Wednesday that the convicts would have to be served with a 14-day notice after President Ram Nath Kovind rejects their mercy plea. With the Rashtrapati Bhawan quashing the petition of convict Mukesh Singh earlier today, the court decided to issue the fresh execution dates.

Breaking: Nirbhaya Rapists to be Hanged on Feb 1

The gangrape-murder of Nirbhaya in 2012 had sparked protests across the nation. The victim was brutally sexually assaulted on December 16 of that year inside a moving bus by six convicts. While one among them was a juvenile, another rapist - Ram Singh - had committed suicide inside the jail premises. The remaining four - Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh, Mukesh Singh and Pawan Gupta - were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court last year.

Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi expressed anguish over the court delaying the date of execution. She alleged a ploy by the counsel of victims to delay their hanging by using legal hurdles. "What the culprits want, that is happening...Date after date is being issued. Our system is one which listen more to the convicts than (to the victims)," she said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 17, 2020 05:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).