Pawan Kumar Gupta was born in a small village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. According to documents submitted in court, his family came from a working-class background, and he had limited formal education. His father operated a small dairy shop in Delhi, while Pawan worked at a local fruit juice stand in the capital's Uttam Nagar area at the time of his arrest. Like many young men from rural states, Pawan had migrated to the city in search of better economic opportunities.

Little is known about his early childhood. There is no record of previous criminal behavior, and neighbors described him as a relatively quiet boy, though not particularly close to his family. In an effort to delay execution, Pawan’s lawyer later submitted a school certificate claiming that he was born on 8 October 1996, suggesting he was 17 at the time of the crime. However, this claim was rejected by the Supreme Court, which confirmed that he was an adult based on the evidence from arrest records, medical examination, and other verified documents.

Pawan’s life before the incident was largely uneventful but marked by economic hardship. His job as a juice vendor placed him among Delhi’s countless informal workers, largely invisible, underpaid, and vulnerable to both systemic exploitation and peer influence. Though his social circle before the incident is unclear, investigators later revealed that Pawan was already familiar with some of the co-accused, particularly Mukesh Singh and Akshay Thakur. They reportedly frequented similar areas and occasionally drank together.

On the night of 16 December 2012, 22-year-old Jyoti Singh and her male companion Avnindra Pratap Pandey boarded a private bus in Munirka, South Delhi, expecting to return home after watching a movie at the Select Citywalk Mall. The couple, unaware of the danger ahead, were approached by six men, including Pawan Gupta, who lured them into what appeared to be a public transport bus. However, the vehicle had been taken over by the group earlier that evening as part of a premeditated plan to “teach a lesson” to couples they deemed immoral.

Once the bus began moving, Avnindra became suspicious when the driver deviated from the usual route. Confrontation quickly escalated into violence. The attackers beat Avnindra with an iron rod, rendering him semi-conscious. Then, they dragged Jyoti to the back of the bus and, over the course of 40–45 minutes, each of the six men took turns raping her. Pawan Gupta was one of the active participants in the assault. After the sexual assault, the men mutilated Jyoti with an iron rod, causing life-threatening internal injuries. Both victims were stripped, beaten again, and then thrown out of the moving bus near Mahipalpur, left naked and bleeding on the roadside in freezing winter temperatures.

A passerby called the police. The victims were taken to Safdarjung Hospital, where Jyoti remained conscious and gave multiple statements identifying her attackers. Due to the severity of her injuries, including intestinal damage and sepsis, the government arranged for her to be flown to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on 26 December 2012. She succumbed to her injuries on 29 December 2012.

Meanwhile, a massive manhunt ensued. Delhi Police swiftly used CCTV footage, phone tracking, and local tip-offs to arrest the suspects. Pawan Gupta was arrested within 48 hours of the attack. He was identified by both Avnindra and forensic evidence linking him to the crime scene. During interrogation, he admitted to his involvement but later retracted his confession in court.

On 10 September 2013, a special fast-track court in Delhi found Pawan and the other three adults, Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh, and Vinay Sharma, guilty of rape, murder, and destruction of evidence. They were sentenced to death on 13 September 2013, with the judge stating that the crime had "shocked the collective conscience of the nation." Ram Singh, the bus driver and fifth accused, allegedly committed suicide in prison before the verdict.

Pawan and his co-convicts launched a series of appeals over the next several years. The Delhi High Court upheld their sentence, and the Supreme Court of India affirmed the death penalty in May 2017. In a final effort, Pawan filed a curative petition and mercy plea, both of which were dismissed. His claim of being a juvenile was also rejected after thorough verification. While in Tihar Jail, Pawan filed a complaint in March 2020, alleging he had been assaulted by prison guards in July 2019, but this did not affect the legal outcome.

On the early morning of 20 March 2020, after over seven years of trials, appeals, and protests, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, and Vinay Sharma were hanged simultaneously at Tihar Jail.