35,493 brides were killed in India between 2017 and 2022 -- averaging nearly 20 deaths a day -- over dowry demands, sometimes occurring even years after the wedding.
The rape charge could not be proved against the prime accused, his lawyer Munna Singh Pundir said.
Lawyer Seema Kushwaha, who is representing the Dalit woman's family, said on Thursday that they will challenge the verdict in the high court.
The brother of the 19-year-old Dalit woman told reporters on Saturday that the family wanted to shift to the national capital and continue their fight for justice there.
"I am not pained at the fact that execution has been postponed but I am pained at the fact that the lawyer of the convicts A P Singh has challenged me saying that the convicts will never be executed, this is the most painful thing," said Asha Devi.
The court had on October 1 asked the woman's parents to apprise it of their version of the incident and had also ordered the Hathras district administration to arrange for their travel to the court and facilitate their appearance before it.
The top court, which was hearing a public interest litigation and several intervention pleas of activists and lawyers, was told that no fair trial was possible in Uttar Pradesh as the investigation has been allegedly botched up.
As the last-ditch attempt, Mukesh through his counsel on Tuesday sought an urgent hearing on his plea against dismissal of the mercy plea before the top court.
Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were executed at 5.30 am for the savage assault in an empty moving bus on the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who came to be known the world over as Nirbhaya.
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