Show dying declaration of 16 Dec gang rape victim: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Delhi police to show the dying declaration of the 16 December gang rape victim, as it extended its interim order putting on hold the execution of death sentence of Mukesh and Pawan Gupta.

The apex court bench of justice BS Chauhan and Justice j Chelameswar asked additional solicitor general Siddharth Luthra to produce the dying declaration as counsel ML Sharma appearing for Mukesh and Pawan expressed his inability to produce it before the court.

Justice Chelameswar observed: ‘If dying declaration is convincing, then we don’t think why this court should interfere in the matter.’  Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Ram Singh along with a juvenile were accused of gang rape and assault on a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a private bus. The victim and her friend were thrown out of the bus after the crime.

The apex court bench of justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and justice Shiva Kirti Singh at a special sitting on 15 March, 2014, suspended the execution of the death sentence of Mukesh and Pawan till 31 March. This was extended by justice BS Chauhan and justice J Chelameswar by a week till 7 April, 2014, as court wanted to look into the trial court verdict. The suspension of the sentence was once again extended by a week on 7 April, and the court asked Mukesh and Pawan’s counsel to place before it the post-mortem examination report of the Singapore hospital where the victim was treated and died of her injuries.