The Latest Timeline of The Most Controversial 2012 Nirbhaya Gang Rape and Murder Case

Latest Timeline of The Most Controversial 2012 Nirbhaya Gang Rape and Murder Case
The four convicts of the Nirbhaya gang rape case, standing on the death row.
Timeline of The Most Controversial 2012 Nirbhaya Gang Rape and Murder Case
The four convicts of the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, standing on the death row.

The night of December 16, 2012, gave Delhi a new identity; “the rape capital of the country”.

After seven years and three months, the four convicts of Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case have been hanged at 5:30 am on Friday, March 20, 2020.

Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal said, 

“It took seven years for justice to be delivered. Today, we’ve to take a pledge that a similar incident does not happen again. We’ve seen how the convicts manipulated the law until recently. There are a lot of loopholes in our system; we need to improve the system.”

Though it is considered to be one of the most unsafe cities in the country, what happened on the eve of 16 is beyond imagination. Jyoti Singh (Nirbhaya as named by media) along with her friend came out from the movie theatre in Select Citywalk and took an auto to Munirka. While at the bus stop, an off-duty chartered bus offered them a ride. Apart from Jyoti and her friend, there were six others in the bus. After a verbal spat, Jyoti was brutally raped and later thrashed and thrown from the moving bus in the highway of Mahipalpur. Soon a paroling van took them to Safdarjung hospital in a half-dead state. As per the medical reports, Nirbhaya’s organs were gravely damaged, and within 11 days she succumbed to life.

The incident called for protests across the country and more hard and fast anti-rape legislation.

What happened to the Nirbhaya case?

Read the timeline of the case:

December 17 – 26, 2012: All the six accused are taken into custody from various locations, and test identification parade proceedings have been done. Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Kumar records Nirbhaya’s statement.

December 27 – 29, 2012: Nirbhaya sent to Mount Elizabeth in Singapore, and she succumbs to her injuries. Murder charges are appended to the FIR.

January 3, 2013: Charge sheet filed against the five accused of murder, gangrape, kidnapping, dacoity and unnatural offences

March 11, 2013: Accused Ram Singh commits suicide in Tihar Jail

August 31, 2013: The Juvenile Justice Board sends juvenile to three years of imprisonment

September 10, 2013: Session Judge convicts Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar Singh, Mukesh, Pawan Gupta under various sections

October 12, 2013: Proceedings starts against Ram Singh

March 13, 2014: Death penalty given by Delhi High Court

March 15, 2014: Supreme Court bench stays the execution order after one of the convicts appealed

December 20, 2015: Juvenile released from the correction home

May 5, 2017: SC bench, headed by Justice Dipak Mishra vindicates the Delhi high court decision where four convicts have been sentenced

November 9, 2017: Mukesh, one of the convicts, file a review petition

December 15, 2017: Other two convicts Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma files review petition as well

July 9, 2018: SC dismisses the review petitions

October 29, 2019: Tihar Jail announces that they have only seven days from the receipt of the notice to file a mercy petition

November 8, 2019: Another convict Vinay Sharma files mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind

December 1, 2019: Delhi government approves the rejection of mercy petition

December 2, 2019: LG Anil Baijal also advocates the rejection of mercy petition

December 10, 2019: Another convict Akshay Kumar Singh also files a review petition

December 18, 2019: SC declines the review petition filed by Akshay Kumar Singh

December 19, 2019: Delhi High Court disperse Pawan Gupta’s plea as well

January 8, 2020: Death warrant issued by Patiala house court against the four convicts to hang on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar Jail

January 14, 2020: A five-judge bench of the SC rejects the curative petitions filed by Mukesh Kumar and Vinay Sharma

January 17, 2020: President Ram Nath Kovind rejects mercy plea of Mukesh Kumar

January 28, 2020: Convict Akshay Kumar moves to SC with a curative petition

January 30, 2020: SC rejects Akshay Kumar’s curative petition

January 31, 2020: Delhi trial court suspends death warrants as the mercy petition of convicts Vinay Sharma, and Akshay Kumar are pending

February 1, 2020: President Kovind dismisses Vinay Sharma’s mercy petition

February 5, 2020: Delhi High Court directs convicts to exhaust their legal remedies within a week

Centre and Delhi governments move the Supreme Court challenging Delhi SC’s order that all convicts must be hanged.

February 11, 2020: SC allows the centre to seek issuance of a fresh date for execution

February 14, 2020: SC rejects Vinay Sharma’s mercy petition

February 17, 2020: Fresh death warrants issued for the execution of the four convicts on March 3 at 6 am.

March 2, 2020: The bench dismisses the curative petition filed by Pawan Gupta. In his plea, he sought lifetime imprisonment instead of the death penalty. He can now file a mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind.

March 5, 2020: Mercy Petition of Pawan Gupta rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind. The four convicts will now be hanged on March 20 at 5:30 am.

March 18, 2020: Death sentence stayed as of the convicts again takes up a plea. The lawyer of the convicts has also approached the International Court of Justice against the Indian trials of the four convicts.

March 19, 2020: SC rejects curative petition of Pawan. Mukesh, one of the convicts, moves SC claiming he was not present in Delhi on the night of December 16, 2012, which is dismissed by SC.

Delhi court also dismisses plea of Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh for a stay on execution.

May 20, 2020: Tihar jail went into lockdown mode ahead of the execution of the death sentences.

4:00 am – The four convicts woken up from their sleep to take a bath

4:15 am – They were granted time to read scriptures, but they refused, later served breakfast

4:30 am – The four men were taken into medical check-up after that superintendent also checked for any letter or notice which could halt the execution

5:20 am – The convicts were blindfolded with a cotton cloth, and their hands were tied and marched to the “phansi kothi.”

5:25 am – District magistrate present at the spot asked them their final wish.

5:40 am – Tihar Director-General, Sandeep Goel confirms that all four convicts were hanged.

6:00 am – Medical examiner declares that life is extinct, all four convicts are dead.