Bengaluru: For the fourth time, a Delhi court issued a fresh date for the execution of Nirbhaya rapists. 

The move comes a day after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of convict Pawan Gupta. 

The fresh date is March 20 and the time is 5: 30 am. 

With the rejection of the mercy plea by the President, all the four convicts have completely exhausted their legal tools to earn more days. 

But counsel for the accused AP Singh has called it “judicial killing”. 

It is to be noted that the lawyer stressed on the fact that his client Pawan Gupta was still undecided on the prospect of approaching the top court on challenging the President’s mercy plea. So he sought the court not to issue any date keeping this fact in mind. But the court went ahead and issued the date and time. 

And on the contrary, Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi expressed hope that there would be no procrastinations. 

In all, there were six men who were accused and convicted of gang-rape. While one of them was a juvenile at the time of crime, he was let off after he served a three-year term at a juvenile home. 

Out of the remaining five, one of them committed suicide, leaving behind Pawan, Vinay, Akshay and Mukesh to face the trial. 

The heinous crime dates back to December 12 when the victim and her friend were travelling on a Delhi bus. The convicted people pounced upon her and unleashed unthinkable brutality, ultimately killing her. 

Though she was flown to Singapore, the treatment did not fructify. 

On the judicial front, there have been three postponements in relation to the hanging. The counsel for the convicts has effectively used the loopholes and jiggery-pokery in the law to earn more time for his clients. 

But this time, it doesn’t seem like they can buy anymore time.