Preparations for hanging of Nirbhaya convicts on

A dummy execution was carried out at Tihar Jail in Delhi to prepare for the 22 January execution of the four men who have been given the death sentence for the 2012 gang-rape and murder of Nirbhaya.

Convicts Pawan Gupta, Akshay, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh will be hanged at 7 am.

The dummy execution was done by the jail authorities to test the equipment that will be used to hang the convicts. This is done by using sacks filled with stones according to the weight of the four men. The test was done at Jail 3 where the  convicts will be executed. This is the same cell where Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the attack on Parliament was hanged in 2013.

The four men will be hanged together, a first in India. The Uttar Pradesh Prison authority has said that Pawan Jallad from Meerut will be sent to hang the four convicts. A few days before the hanging, Kumar will visit Tihar jail and inspect the preparations

The hanging courtyard has a provision to hang only two people at a time. This has been redone so four hangings can take place at the same time.

The four convicts are currently lodged in jail numbers 2 and 4. On Tuesday the Supreme Court will hear one last petition from Vinay Sharma and Mukesh. They have appealed against the death sentence. 

“Depending on the verdict of the Supreme Court on January 14, which will hear a curative petition by the two men, they will be shifted together to jail number 3,” said a prison official. After the verdict, they will be allowed to meet their families one last time.

The convicts are kept in four separate cells. Each of them is being monitored by two CCTV cameras. There are jail guards watching them round-the-clock. Prison officials say they are behaving normally as of now.

Jail authorities said they are talking to the convicts on a daily basis to make sure they are in a good mental state.

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