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Delhi rape convict Vinay Sharma moves court, wants to be treated for insanity
In his new application, AP Singh referred to his meeting with Vinay Sharma yesterday as well as Vinay Sharma’s interaction with his mother. “It was a very serious matter that convict Vinay Sharma could not identified to his counsel and mother in jail,” AP Singh’s application says.
Death row prisoner Vinay Sharma on Thursday approached a Delhi court with a fresh request to be treated at east Delhi’s Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences for mental illness, insanity and schizophrenia.
Vinay Sharma’s lawyer AP Singh had made a similar claim at a hearing earlier this week before the judge issued a death warrant against the four prisoners sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 23-year-old in December 2012. The judge had, however, rejected this line of argument.
Vinay Sharma’s lawyer returned to judge Dharmender Sharma’s court on Thursday with a similar plea, 12 days before he is ordered to be hanged to death along with three other convicts on March 3.
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Judge Dharmender Sharma will hear the application on Saturday, February 22, and has asked Tihar jail officials to respond to the request by then.
In the past, the prosecution has contested claims that Vinay Sharma was suffering from a mental illness that required the execution to be put off, contending that if this is true, his lawyer lawyer should explain how he could claim to receive instructions from his client.
In his new application, AP Singh referred to his meeting with Vinay Sharma yesterday as well as Vinay Sharma’s interaction with his mother. “It was a very serious matter that convict Vinay Sharma could not identify his counsel and mother in jail,” AP Singh’s application says.
Singh claimed that jail records would prove that Vinay Sharma had attempted suicide thrice so far and been under treatment for depression.
In jail, he said, Vinay Sharma had also sustained a grievous head injury and fracture in his right arm.
Prosecutors say that Vinay Sharma was trying to build a fresh case to block his execution.
Fresh death warrants against the four convicts-- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) in the gang-rape and murder case were released on Monday for the execution to be carried out at 6 am on March 3.
