One of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape-murder case, Akshay Singh, has moved a review petition in India’s apex court against his death penalty, contending that in the city of Delhi, people are already dying due to pollution and poisonous water.
“Life is going short, then why death penalty?” Singh questioned, referring to the city of Delhi’s deteriorating air and water quality in a petition filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The review petition, filed by the accused Akshay Singh, reads: “... it is important to pertain here that Air Quality of Delhi and metro city is burst and like a gas chamber...”
Referring to a recent report by an Indian government agency, the Bureau of Indian Standards, which rendered Delhi’s ground water “unfit for drinking”, convict Akshay Singh’s petition said, “Water of Delhi NCR and metro city is also full of poison... Everyone is aware of what is happening in Delhi NCR in regard water and air".
Akshay Singh, along with Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, and Vinay Sharma, were held in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case within a week of the occurrence of the crime by Delhi Police.
All four were awarded the death penalty by a Delhi court and it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2017. Earlier, the three convicts filed review petitions, asking the Supreme Court to reconsider their convictions, but were turned down by the apex court.
