Hanging of New Delhi rapists pushed back to February 1

Court earlier set January 22 as the execution date following plea by the victim's parents

The mother of the 2012 New Delhi gang rape victim speaks to the media as she leaves a court in the Indian capital on January 7, 2020. AP Photo

An Indian court on Friday ordered that four men convicted of the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a New Delhi bus would now be hanged on February 1.

The court had earlier said they would be executed on January 22, a ruling that prompted the convicts to seek last possible legal remedies.

Six people were originally charged with taking part in the brutal attack aboard a city bus that made headlines around the world and triggered massive nationwide protests across India.

One of the six convicted was released after spending three years in a detention centre as a juvenile while another allegedly committed suicide in his prison cell.

The order to hang the four convicts came after the parents of the victim approached the court, saying they were fed up with the delays and appeals.

The Supreme Court had upheld death sentences against the four men in 2017 and since then their execution has been stuck in a legal quagmire.

The 23-year-old victim was attacked in December 2012 while returning home after visiting the cinema with a male friend.

Her assailants took turns to rape and violate her with a metal rod as the bus drove around the capital, before dumping her and the beaten-up friend on the road.

She died of her injuries nearly a fortnight after the attack – in Singapore, where she had been flown for specialist treatment.

Tens of thousands of Indians took to the streets in protest, and the case led to a major overhaul of laws surrounding sexual assault.

It also spawned an award-winning documentary as well as a Netflix series.

The victim's family said they were still unsure if the convicts would be hanged on February 1.

"We have struggled for seven years to get justice for our daughter. They [convicts] have been using all sorts of delaying tactics. We won't be satisfied until they are hanged," her mother told reporters outside the court.

Indian media reports say Tihar prison, where the four are incarcerated, recently held a dummy execution to test the gallows.