Lucknow, Jan 8 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government has accepted the request of Tihar Jail authorities for availing the services of hangman from Meerut Jail to execute the death sentence of Nirbhaya rape convicts.

UP minister for jails Jai Kumar Singh Jacky, said that the state government had granted permission to the hangman Pawan to go to Tihar for the execution of the death sentence. This comes a day after the Delhi court issued death warrants to the four convicts of the Nirbhaya rape case.

According to the court orders, the four convicts -- Mukesh Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Singh (31), and Pawan Gupta (25) -- are to be hanged to death on January 22 at 7 a.m.

A 23-year-old woman, who was accompanied by a male friend, had boarded a bus in the national capital on the night of December 16, 2012.

The woman was gang rape by six men and then brutalised while her companion was also beaten with rods.

Both were later thrown out of the bus.

The woman, who had suffered serious internal injuries, died later.

All six accused were arrested. One of the accused, Ram Singh, committed suicide inside the Tihar jail while another accused who was a minor at the time of the incident was freed after spending three years in a juvenile home.