The convicts in the December 2012 gang rape and murder of the 23-year-old paramedic might move a curative petition against the death penalty awarded to the them.

The counsel for the convicts, advocate AP Singh, informed the court that a curative petition might be filed by the convicts challenging the capital punishment upheld by the Supreme Court.

This comes almost two months after the mother of the young paramedic, who died in the incident, had moved a plea before the court requesting a speedy execution of the four convicts — Mukesh, 29, Pawan Gupta, 22, Vinay Sharma, 23, and Akshay Kumar Singh, 31. The four were awarded the death sentence by the court in September 2013.

The counsel for the 23- year- paramedic’s mother, Jitendra Kumar Jha and Seema Khushwaha, contended that neither any curative nor mercy petition has been filed on behalf of the accused to date and therefore, the court should go ahead with the execution. The court was of the view that unless and until all remedies available in law are not exhausted by the convicts, the date for execution of death sentence can’t be fixed.

The court, however, has directed the jail authorities to file a report regarding the progress with respect to the curative or mercy petition filed by the convicts.

In July 2018, the Supreme Court had dismissed the review petitions filed by the convicts, reaffirming the punishment. When nothing happened, despite the Supreme Court’s order, her mother filed a plea before the fast-track court which had originally awarded the sentence. “…the trauma, pain and agony suffered by the applicant is unbearable and the wait for justice is getting longer and longer,” the plea said.

The 23-year-old paramedic and her male friend were attacked by the convicts inside a moving bus in south Delhi by five men and a juvenile. The victim was thrown out on the road after being assaulted and gang-raped.

She succumbed to injuries on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. One of the accused, Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar jail while the juvenile convict was released after serving his three-year term in a reformation centre.

First Published: Mar 03, 2019 02:13 IST