The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Chairperson, Swati Maliwal on Thursday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to reject the mercy petition filed by one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya murder case.
Maliwal’s hunger strike to demand capital punishment for rapists within six months of their conviction entered the third day on Thursday. Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts facing the gallows in the 2012 gangrape and murder case of a 23-year-old paramedic student, had filed a mercy petition before the President.
Maliwal on Thursday also wrote a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, urging him to ensure that death penalty is awarded within 30 days to those accused of setting a rape survivor on fire.
In the letter, she also demanded that the survivor, who has suffered 90 per cent burn injuries and is battling for life, be provided the “best possible medical treatment”.
The rape survivor from Unnao was battling for life on Thursday after five men, including two of the accused who are out on bail, allegedly set her on fire while she was on her way to court.