Two gang-rape convicts shifted to convict jail

Two convicts in the Dec 16 gang-rape were shifted to convict jail Saturday, a police officer said. Mukesh, 26, and Akshay Thakur, 28, have been shifted to jail number five (convict jail), said an officer of Tihar jail.

They were earlier lodged in jail number 4 before being convicted and sentenced to death by a court Friday. The other two, Pawan Gupta, 19 and Vinay Sharma, 20, have been lodged in jail number 7, a jail for inmates aged below 21. Friday, all the four convicts returned from court and donned white kurta pyjamas.

They sought Tihar's officers help in appealing to a higher court. "The convicts told us they wanted our help for appealing in a higher court," an officer said. "Their behaviour was normal after returning from court. They were, however, a bit sad and did not interact much with other inmates. They took dinner and slept timely," the officer added.

The four men who were convicted Tuesday were sentenced to death by a court in the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern here in a moving bus December 16, 2012.

The trial court's decision to give them death penalty will now be sent to the Delhi High Court for endorsement and the process may take about a month, said the jail official.