Nirbhaya case convicts shifted to separate cell

New Delhi: Two of the four death row convicts in the December 16 gang rape and murder case have been shifted to a separate cell in Tihar Jail after they alleged threat from a co-prisoner, prison authorities told a Delhi court on Wednesday.

The response came on a plea by two convicts Pawan Gupta and Akshay Kumar Singh saying that on December 24, 2016, they were shifted to a common cell with another prisoner, who has been allegedly harassing them physically and mentally.

Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal was told by deputy superintendent of police Sanjay Gupta that both inmates were shifted to a separate cell on January 11.

"In these circumstances, as the grievance of both the inmates has already been addressed and to the satisfaction of their counsel, the application is disposed of," the court said.

During the hearing, the jail officer said the inmates were shifted to another cell where cameras were installed following the anniversary of December 16, 2012 incident and keeping in mind the suicide of accused Ram Singh.

Advocate A P Singh, who has filed the plea on behalf of the two inmates, said the duo's feared for their lives as there was an apprehension that they could be harmed by the co -prisoner. As the jail authorities have now shifted them to a separate cell, he has no grievance.

Pawan, Akshay, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh were convicted and sentenced to death by a trial court on September 10, 2013 in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case and the punishment was upheld by the Delhi High Court on March 13, 2014. Their appeals are pending before the Supreme Court.

Six persons, including a juvenile, had beaten up and robbed carpenter Ram Adhar before raping and brutally assaulting a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in south Delhi on the night of December 16, 2012. Thirteen days after the assault, she was transferred to a hospital in Singapore for emergency treatment where she succumbed to her injuries.