Nirbhaya convict’s wife files for divorce, faints outside court, says she wants to kill self

Barely 15 hours ahead of the hanging in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case, high voltage drama ensued outside the Patiala House Court in Delhi, as the wife of one of the death-row convicts, Akshay Kumar Singh, fainted and later threatened to kill herself.

After gaining consciousness, she started beating herself with a slipper and said, "I don't want to live. I will kill myself." Her child was sitting beside her as the drama unfolded.

Akshay's wife has filed for a divorce in a local court in Bihar's Aurangabad from her husband who, along with three others, is slated to be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 a.m.

In the divorce plea, she asserted that she does not want to live the life of a widow as her husband is set to be hanged. "My husband is innocent. I want to be legally divorced before he is hanged."

The four convicts are scheduled to be hanged by the noose for brutally raping and murdering a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on December 16, 2012. She was later dubbed "Nirbhaya" meaning the fearless as she battled for many days and even gave her statement despite the brutality of her injuries.