Over the weekend, the families of the convicts named - Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, Mukesh Singh, and Akshay Kumar reached out to the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind appealing him to also grant them death by euthanasia, the media reported.
In India, the Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia in 2018 – but only for terminally ill patients or people in coma to choose the option and “die with dignity”. People with emotional pressure – which is considered to be the case of the families of the rape convicts – evidently do not fulfil the criteria to be granted euthanasia.
“We request you to accept our request and give us permission for euthanasia and stop any crime from happening in the future so that another incident like Nirbhaya doesn’t happen and the court doesn’t have to hang five people in place of one,” the media reports quoted the families saying in a letter written to President Kovind in Hindi.
Nirbhaya convicts` families seek President Kovind`s permission for euthanasia https://t.co/gM11UxfZFV pic.twitter.com/qPYq4FZSpH
— Post of Asia (@post_asia) March 15, 2020
Aged parents, siblings and young kids of the convicts have made it to the group of euthanasia seekers.
As of now, President Kovind’s official reply to the mercy death-seeking letter from the convicts’ families remains unknown.
Meanwhile, netizens have shared their unadulterated opinions on social networking platforms calling this step from the families of the rapists a big fat drama.
What kind of shameless people are these? How can they ask forgiveness for such monsters? Just stop all the drama n let the punishment be carried out. No more delays.#NirbhayaCaseConvicts
— mind over matter (@manishakmehta) March 15, 2020
This is going too far. Now we can see clearly where these criminals got their morals from. Euthanasia is mercy killing for someone who because of medical reasons can no longer live a fulfilling life. And these thugs are making fun of it. Hang them too
— Longmey (@Longmey87) March 15, 2020
They aren't asking euthanasia for the convicts, they're asking euthanasia for themselves including elders and children of the convicts. Its a kind of blackmail to stall the hanging of the convicts.
— Gopal Krishna (@kggopal12) March 15, 2020
On 16 December 2012, six men brutally gang raped a 23 year old physiotherapy student in a moving bus in New Delhi. The gruesome sexual assault eventually killed the girl who succumbed to her injuries.
One of the accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in prison back in 2013. Another convict – who was a juvenile – was sentenced to a three years' imprisonment in a reform facility. He was released in December 2015.
