Two of the convicts in the case, popularly known as Nirbhaya Case, had filed appeals to the Supreme Court of India only to have them dismissed on Tuesday, paving the way for their executions on 22 January.
The appeals, known as curative petitions, are a legal remedy that facilitates a review of a court's final verdict. The plea was heard after the court sentenced four men in the case - Akshay, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh Singh to death by hanging on 7 January.
The infamous rape by six men took place in Delhi in 2012.. The men raped the woman in a moving bus on the night of 16 December, 2012 in the Munirka area of India’s national capital. The crime triggered an outcry in India with people coming out onto the streets demanding safety and security for women.
One of the key accused, Ram Singh commit suicide while in custody. Another was a juvenile at the time of the crime and was sent to a reformatory for three years. The remaining four - Akshay, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh Singh - are set to be hanged on 22 January.
India had executed 720 convicts since independence in 1947. The last execution was in 2015, when Yakub Memon, was hanged to death for his involvement in a 1993 bombing in Mumbai.