'Stay on execution of Nirbhaya case convicts a cruel joke': Sonal Mansingh

Rajya Sabha MP Sonal Mansingh on Tuesday termed the stay on the execution of four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder case as the "cruellest joke".

Sonal Mansingh is an Indian classical dancer. She has been nominated by President of India to become a Member of Parliament. 

According to news agency ANI, Sonal Mansingh said, "I can only say that it is the cruelest joke possible, it is totally unacceptable."

She interrogated further, "Is it a joke on the legal system or the victim...womanhood? what is it?" 

Earlier on Monday, a Delhi court stayed the execution of four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case and deferred the matter till further orders.

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Dharmendra Rana, additional sessions Judge had reserved the order on a petition filed by Pawan Gupta. The Judge concluded after hearing matters from both sides. 

The execution of the convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- was earlier scheduled to take place on the morning of March 3.

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The Delhi government on Monday recommended rejecting mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Nirbhaya Case: 

Nirbhaya Rape Case pertains to the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student. The incident happened on a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. The girl had died at Singapore hospital after a few days from the incident. 

The hanging of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rapes and murder case scheduled for Tuesday was deferred for the third time in six weeks by a court in yet another twist in the case marked by apparent delaying tactics by the condemned prisoners. All the six men in the Nirbhaya case, including the juvenile, were convicted by the court. 

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