Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, 31 January, said it is sad that the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya case are “escaping death sentence by using legal loopholes”, stressing that there is an urgent need to amend the laws to ensure hanging in cases of rape within six months.
Kejriwal tweeted his reaction after a Delhi court stayed the execution of death warrants of the four convicts in the 2012 gang-rape and murder case till further order.
"It saddens me that convicts in Nirbhaya case are escaping death sentence by using legal loopholes. They should be immediately hanged. We are in dire need to amend our laws so that in cases of rape, hanging takes place within six months," he said in the tweet in Hindi.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy echoed similar views while speaking to the media soon after the court passed its order.
"There must be a debate on how the convicts in heinous crimes, even after Supreme Court upholds their conviction, continue to delay execution of death penalty by exploring the judicial process," Reddy, Union minister of State for Home said, reported news agency PTI.
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