Nirbhaya case: Accused Vinay Sharma attempts to hurt himself inside jail

Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape case attempted to kill himself in his cell early this week. He reportedly attempted to hurt himself by hitting his head against a wall. Sources in Tihar Jail told that he was stopped by the jail authorities and was being treated.

A Tihar Jail source on the condition of anonymity told India Today, "One of the death row convicts of the Nirbhaya case, Vinay, attempted to hurt himself by banging his head against a wall in his cell. He received minor injuries." On February 17, Vinay Sharma's lawyer Mukesh Kumar Singh told the court that his client was suffering from "acute mental illness". He further said that this is exactly why the death sentence cannot be carried out.

Also read: Nirbhaya case: SC junks accused Vinay Sharma's plea; dismisses 'mentally ill' argument

Apart from this, he claimed that Vinay was also assaulted in jail and had head injuries. Singh also told the court earlier that the Nirbhaya rape convict Vinay Sharma was on a hunger strike in jail. After hearing these arguments, the Court directed the Tihar jail Superintendent to take care of Vinay as per the law.

Also read: Nirbhaya case: President rejects clemency plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma

Also read: SC rejects Nirbhaya convict Mukesh's petition challenging President's rejection of mercy plea

The Court recently directed that the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case of 2012 - Akshay Kumar (31), Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (26) and Vinay Sharma (26) will be hanged until death on March 3 at 6 am. This, however, is the third time that the death warrants were issued against the convicts. The death warrant was previously issued on Janury 7 which got deferred two times, on January 17 and on Janury 31.

Also read: Nirbhaya case: All four convicts to be hanged at 6am on March 3