Court says insanity plea by December 16 gang rape convict ‘dramatic, superficial’, rejects it

A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed a plea by Vinay Sharma — one of the four convicts in the December 16 gang rape case — who had sought treatment in Institute of

A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed a plea by Vinay Sharma — one of the four convicts in the December 16 gang rape case — who had sought treatment in Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS).

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The court stated that on a ‘mental status examination’ of Sharma, he was found to be ‘dramatic, superficial and malingering.’

Additional sessions Judge Dharmender Rana rejected Sharma’s plea for treatment claiming insanity, mental illness and schizophrenia filed through advocate AP Singh, who had also contended that his client was unable to recognize his family and lawyer. The court said “no objective signs of psychological distress were observed” while also adding that “the apparent tone and tenor of the convict is not suggestive of any abnormal behaviour”.

“The convict desires himself to be falsely diagnosed mentally ill. Overall impression of his psychological condition is reported to be that of malingering. It is reported that the general condition and vitals of inmate is stable and satisfactory,” the judge said.

“It is evident that the convict is not only being provided regular medical care but regular supportive therapy/sessions is being conducted for him by a specialist psychiatrist. I do not have any plausible reasons to disbelieve the report of two responsible medical experts,” the judge added.

The court also said that it had perused the CD given by the jail authorities containing the CCTV footage wherein Sharma is seen conversing with his counsel and family members. On Saturday, the jail authorities, represented by Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed, gave the CD with the footage and stated that the application is a “bundle of distorted facts”.

Opposing Sharma’s application, the public prosecutor said that the condemned convict himself struck his head on the wall and it is a self inflicted injury. He also said that the CCTV footage in the barrack showed that the injury was self inflicted.

“The convict is being analyzed and his vitals are intact and all the injuries are superficial. The examination by jail doctors, and their medical history reveals that the convict is not suffering from such disease. So his examination at any hospital is not required,” Ahmed said.

However, countering such submissions, Singh said that the jail authorities had concealed the fact of his client’s head injuries and did not inform the court about the same during the hearing on February 17, even though the incident where Sharma received head injuries took place in the intervening night of Feb 16 and Feb 17.

While making his submissions, Singh even broke down when the judge offered him water and said that he might leave the case for once and all.

The court while rejecting the claims of the convict said, “The apparent tone and tenor of the convict is not suggestive of any abnormal behaviour, rather it convincingly corroborates the opinion of the medical experts. General anxiety and depression in case of a death row convict is obvious. In the case at hand, evidently adequate medical treatment and psychological help has been provided to the condemned convict. In these circumstances, I do not find any occasion to refer the convict to IHBAS or any other hospital at this stage. The application is accordingly dismissed,” the judge said.

AP Singh said that he would appeal against the judgment in high court .

Asha Devi, the mother of the 23-year-old paramedic student who was brutally gang raped and murdered, however, expressed happiness and said that the convicts should now accept the facts and come to terms with reality. She said that the courts have understood the delaying tactics and the convicts would be now hanged on March 3.

“Now when the convicts are talking about their mothers and sisters, they should realize my pain also. Even I lost my daughter and here I am visiting courts from the past so many years,” Devi said.

In his new application, AP Singh claimed that jail records would prove that Sharma had attempted suicide thrice so far and been under treatment for depression. In jail, he said, Sharma had also sustained a grievous head injury and fracture in his right arm.

Sharma has been on death row along with three other convicts -- Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur. They were sentenced to death by a Delhi court in 2013 after they were found guilty of brutally raping and murdering the 23-year-old paramedic student inside a moving bus on December 16, 2012. Their hanging, as ordered by a city court, has been postponed twice. On February 17, a Delhi court had issued fresh warrants, for the third time, to hang the convicts till death on March 3 at 6am.