Hangman to reach Tihar on Tuesday

16/03/2020, SAURABH TRIVEDI, NEW DELHI

Parents of Nirbhaya and their supporters burning an effigy of the rapist during a march on her death anniversary at Jantar Mantar.FILE PHOTO: Sushil Kumar VermaSushil Kumar Verma

For the fourth time, Tihar jail authorities are making arrangements for the execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case which is scheduled for March 20, officials said.

Convicts are hopeful that their lawyers will find some way to get the date of their hanging postponed once again, said a jail official.

“Hangman Pawan will reach Tihar on March 17 and will carry out dummy executions. The phansi ghar will be inspected again as per jail manual by a team to check whether all things are in place,” said Sandeep Goel, Director General (Prisons)

The hanging of the four men — Mukesh Kumar Singh, Vinay Kumar Sharma , Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta — who are lodged in Tihar, was fixed for March 20 at 5.30 a.m in Tihar jail as per a court order.

Out of the four convicts, Mukesh, Vinay and Pawan have already met their families before the February 1 death warrant, while Akshay was left to meet his family for the last time, said the jail officials.

During normal meetings, inmates are allowed to meet their families from behind an iron grill. In the last meeting, they were allowed to meet their families face-to-face for 30 minutes. “We have informed Akshay’s family members about the final meeting. We are hopeful that they will reach Delhi within a couple of days,” said Mr. Goel.

Priority to health

Meanwhile, Tihar jail authorities are taking extra care of convicts in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

“The convicts are given round-the-clock security and are put under CCTV surveillance. A team of doctors visit them twice a day for medical check-up. They have been shifted to isolation wards. We are taking extra care of their health and preventing them from getting in contact with other prisoners,” said a jail official.

“We are taking extra care of hygiene inside isolation wards and the convicts are not allowed to meet unnecessary people so as to avoid any chances of getting infected,” the official said. The official added that the convicts haven’t made any special demands.

The first date of execution was fixed on January 22, but it was postponed by the court to February 1. Again, it was postponed and the court issued a fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3, which was postponed further. The fresh date of hanging was scheduled for March 20.