Seven death row convicts who gangraped and killed a mentally challenged woman in Rohtak got an interim stay on their execution from the Supreme Court which agreed on Thursday to hear their appeals against the conviction.
The brutal crime on February 1, 2015 had come as reminiscent of the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case of a paramedic intern which had shocked the nation.
"The leave is granted. The execution of the death sentence is stayed," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta said.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had recently upheld the trial court's decision to award capital punishment to the convicts for the heinous offence and enhanced the fine imposed on them from Rs 50,000 each to Rs 50 lakh.
The high court had termed the offence as "barbaric", "brutal" and predatory" while sending seven convicts Padam alias Parmod, Pawan, Sarwar alias Billu, Manbir alias Manni, Rajesh alias Ghochru, Sunil (Mada) and Sunil (Sheela) to gallows for the murder.
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It had also awarded life imprisonment to the convicts for gang rape.
The accused raped the Nepali woman, killed her and mutilated her body which was dumped in a field in Gaddi Kheri village in Rohtak, Haryana, on February 4.
Doctors had recovered stones and razor blades from her stomach during the post-mortem examination.
The eighth accused Sombir had absconded and later committed suicide in Delhi's Bawana area by consuming poison.
The trial court on December 21, 2015 had convicted and awarded the capital punishment to the seven accused.
The high court while raising the fine to Rs 50 lakh had directed the Deputy Commissioner of Rohtak to identify the immovable properties of all the convicts and attach them within one month.
The sale of the properties is to take place within two months from the date of attachment, it had directed.
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