Vinay moves court, seeks treatment for ‘schizophrenia’
In what could be termed as another attempt to buy more time and delay the hanging of the four death-row convicts of the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, Vinay Sharma, one of them, moved the court on Thursday and demanded better treatment for his “mental illness”.
The court has sought response from the Tihar jail authorities on a plea by Vinay, who through his counsel sought remedy for his claimed mental illness, schizophrenia and the injuries suffered in his head and arms.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Dharmender Rana directed the prison authorities to file its reply on the plea of Vinay on Saturday.
“Vinay injured himself by banging his head on his cell wall in Tihar Jail. The incident happened in jail number 3 on Sunday afternoon and he got some minor injuries and was treated inside the prison premises,” said a prison official.
During the hearing, the prosecution opposed the plea saying it was not maintainable. Counsel for Vinay told the court that he was refusing to recognise people, including his mother.
The plea claimed that when Vinay’s counsel visited him in the prison on the request of his family members, he found that he had sustained grievous head injury, fractures in his right arm with plaster and was suffering from insanity, mental illness and schizophrenia.
“Vinay could not identify his counsel and his mother in jail,” it said.
The petition further claimed that he was having decreased sleep for a long time and was referred to senior psychiatrist in view of drug dependence.
The court had on February 17 issued fresh death warrants for March 3 at 6 am against the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.
It had issued fresh warrants against death row convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay (26) and Akshay Kumar (31). This is the third time that death warrants have been issued against them.
A senior prison official said that Vinay is irritable in nature and acts different from the other three convicts. His nature is different from the other three.
A Delhi court on Monday ordered that Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) -- the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case be hanged on at 6 am on March 3.
