Even on last day, Nirbhaya convicts kept hoping against hope

TNN | Mar 20, 2020, 04.11 AM IST

NEW DELHI: A day before their scheduled execution, the four Nirbhaya convicts were anxious. They were eager to know about the plea filed for stay on hanging on Friday.

Jail officers were planning to keep an extra vigil on the convicts through Thursday night to ensure they don’t hurt themselves. All the staff, including the hangman, were counselled earlier in the day and their phones confiscated.

Sources said that the four convicts were also counselled. An excerpt from the Gita was read out to them and they were told about the karma.

“Pawan broke down after this and asked for forgiveness, while Mukesh kept on claiming that he was suffering for something he had not done. He blamed his past lives for this. Akshay said he had reformed himself and wanted to do something good for the society. Vinay was hopeful that the hanging would be stalled at the last moment,” a jail officer said.

On Thursday, the hangman conducted a dummy test using the actual hanging ropes. The whole hanging operation will be conducted by two officers of additional superintendent rank and monitored by Tihar DG Sandeep Goel.

A team of 50 jail officers have been tasked to ensure that the execution process is undertaken smoothly. The team has been divided into four groups to, respectively, look after security of the four convicts, preparation of the hanging well, coordination with the district magistrate and Delhi Police, and the post-execution formalities.

The families of the four convicts were waiting outside the jail gate since Thursday evening. Security around the jail premises may be tightened on Friday morning.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)