NEW DELHI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Indian President Ram Nath Kovind Wednesday rejected the mercy plea of 2012 Delhi gang-rape convict Pawan Gupta.
The local government in Delhi had recommended rejecting his mercy petition.
"Request for mercy by Pawan Gupta, one of the four convicts in the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi has been rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind," an official said.
The 25-year-old Gupta is one of the four convicts in the case. He had filed a mercy plea on Monday before the president after the Supreme Court dismissed his curative petition.
The four convicts were scheduled to be hanged at Delhi's Tihar jail on March 3, but the hanging was deferred after he filed the curative petition urging the court that his death sentence be changed to life imprisonment.
He was the last death row convict in the case to move the top court with his curative plea, the final legal remedy available to a person.
In 2012, a 23-year-old paramedic student was gang-raped on the night of December 16 inside a moving bus in Delhi by six persons and assaulted severely. She succumbed to her injuries during medical treatment after 13 days.
One of the accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide inside Tihar Jail during the trial. Another accused, a minor, was convicted by the Juvenile Justice Board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.
The fatal gang-rape brought a spotlight on crimes against women in India. The incident saw huge protests and resulted in new anti-rape laws in the country.
