President Ram Nath Kovind rejects second Nirbhaya convict\'s mercy plea

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday rejected the mercy petition of second death row convict -- Vinay Sharma -- in Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.

Recently, Vinay Sharma had filed a mercy petition in the matter.
The President had, on January 17, rejected the mercy petition of another convict -- Mukesh Singh -- in the matter.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Friday stayed till further orders the execution, which was earlier scheduled to take place on February 1, of the four convicts in the case.

A Delhi court had earlier issued a death warrant for convicts -- Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, and Vinay Sharma -- for their execution on February 1.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutalising of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.