New Delhi: The Union home ministry has rejected the mercy plea of one of the main accused in the Nirbhaya gangrape case and has also forwarded the file to President Ram Nath Kovind. Sources said the MHA had received the file two days ago from the Delhi lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal, who had also rejected the mercy plea of accused Vinay Sharma.
The home ministry, while forwarding the file to the President, has also in its “file notings” recommended that the mercy petition be rejected. However, MHA officials said it was difficult to set a timeframe on when the entire process would be completed since the final decision was now at the discretion of the President.
“Once the President returns the file to the home ministry with his opinion, we can inform the prison authorities as to what action is to be taken against the accused. But no deadline can be fixed for this as the decision is entirely at the discretion of the President,” a senior official said.
The incident which shocked the entire nation took place in Delhi on December 16, 2012, when the 23-year-old paramedic student was brutally raped and assaulted by a group of men inside a moving bus. The incident had triggered nationwide protests leading to changes in the criminal laws dealing with rape and other sexual offences against women.
A Nirbhaya fund was also constituted for states to deal with cases of sexual offences against women.
