Dec 16 gang-rape case: AAP, BJP blame each other for delay in hanging convicts

As political parties in Delhi gear up for assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once again criticised each other over the

As political parties in Delhi gear up for assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once again criticised each other over the execution of the convicts in the December 16 gang-rape case.

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Union minister Smriti Irani Friday blamed the AAP government for the “delay” in the hanging of the four convicts and accused the government of depriving the victim’s parents of justice.

“Why was the prisons department, which comes under the AAP government, sleeping after the dismissal of review petition in July 2018? Why did the government give ₹10,000 and a sewing kit to the juvenile rapist when he was released?” she said.

Responding to the allegations, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal posted a video on social media, telling the BJP not to engage in politics over the case.

“I feel sad that politics is being done on such an issue. Shouldn’t we be working together to ensure that the guilty are hanged at the earliest? Shouldn’t we join hands to ensure a system so that such beasts get hanged within six months? Please don’t do politics on this. Let’s together create a safe city for our women (sic),” Kejriwal said.

Earlier in the day, on the sidelines of an event in Delhi’s Shakurbasti neighbourhood, Kejriwal, who is the national convener of the AAP, asserted that his government had no role in delaying the hanging of the convicts, even as he accused Union minister Prakash Javadekar of “politicising” the matter.

When told by reporters that the parents of the victim were accusing the Delhi government of delay, he said, “Someone is misleading them into thinking that the delay has happened on our end.”

Javadekar, who is the BJP in-charge for the February 8 Delhi Assembly elections, had Thursday blamed the AAP government for the delay in hanging the convicts.

Meanwhile, fresh death warrants were issued by a Delhi court Friday for the execution of the four convicts on February 1, shortly after the President rejected the mercy petition forwarded by one of them. According to the Delhi government, the prison rules mandate a buffer period of 14 days between the day of the rejection of the mercy petition and the day of execution.

Earlier, the Delhi government had recommended that their mercy petition be rejected by the President.