File photo of people in New Delhi protesting against the gang rape. PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI: Four men were sentenced to death on Friday for fatally raping a young woman on a bus last December in an attack that triggered angry protests and widespread calls for the execution of her attackers.
Judge Yogesh Khanna, who convicted the men for gang rape and "cold-blooded" murder earlier this week, rejected their lawyers' plea for a lighter sentence.
"Everybody got the death penalty," said one of the defence lawyers, AP Singh, outside the courtroom.
The woman, a 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist, and a male friend were lured onto a bus by five men and a teenager. The woman was then repeatedly raped and tortured with a metal bar. Her injuries were so severe that she died two weeks later.
One of the five men arrested in connection with the attack committed suicide in prison in March, while the teenager was sentenced to three years in a reformatory last month, the maximum sentence that be given to juveniles under Indian law.
Khanna's ruling still has to be ratified by the Delhi High Court, and the four men can appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. The appeals process could take years, lawyers said.
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@SayWhat!
Indeed, in these all troll battles around the internet, and firings at border, we forget that we are of same blood. Cheers :) !
@Jay: Thanks! Now learn to appreciate good things in Pakistan too. We have big heart and we are not afeaid to appreciate good jobs.
Glad to see all of my pakistani brothers and sisters appreciating this move of India.
Proud to be Indian, thanks all once again.
@Zeeshan: And watch the latest video of Miley Cirus instead??
@mahwish sohail:
"this is the end of humanity…"
I think you meant to make this comment on the news article about Modi being elected as the PM candidate from BJP.
From the next time onwards, don't read two news at the same time. Weak brains fail to process what it is reading.
@Rahim:
Mate, there is no "pardon" or "blood money" in Indian Law. India do not have Sharia. You kill people, you get hanged. Full stop.
@Sry: Pathetic is Indian judicial system who took decades to recognize & accept it. Just because persistent crowd & strikes makes you go to uour basement doesnt give you anymore rights to start comparing your chronic disease to the whole neighborhood. You guys say you have data on everything in Pak, why don't you check and compare the rape figures in both countries.
@Humanity, it was a sarcastic response based on what happened in Shahzab case recently. Never wanted to hurt your or any body else's feeling.
@Zeeshan:
I agree with you since it is the increasing vulgarity that is increasing the number of rape cases in India. It was bad until that vulgarity was from within now the imported porn-stars are like adding fuel to fire and this fire cannot extinguished with this present state of Bollywood.
If really want to stop rapes in India then stop than ban the Bollywood ...
@Rahim: wrote "I hope family of victim does not accept Australian Visa and money to pardon the culprits….!!!!! Never know."
The callousness and apathy towards the ridiculing the victim exposed by this comment exposes the mindset of male hegemony. This mindset is the enabler of such crimes.
@Libra: our judicial system may be just, but it is horribly slow.
@nrmr44: @Amad: stop nonsense
@nrmr44: - Sir, can you enlighten us the sharia Law wherein no witness is required and punishment can be awarded based on the circumstantial evidences. Rapists don't keep witness while committing heinous crime.. Recently a foreigner (lady )was charged for committing adultery with Saudi male and imprisoned This happened after she lodged a complaint with Saudi police against the person for raping her.. Unless the flaw in the law is accepted there will not be any requirement / demand to modify it. Is Sharia law amendable?
In the present case the death sentence is not because of rape but because of brutal murder of the girl after rape. Punishment for rape in India at present is not death sentence. It is awarded for a crime of murder in the nature of rarest of rare.
I hope family of victim does not accept Australian Visa and money to pardon the culprits....!!!!! Never know.
Why people involved in gang rape in Pakistan are not awarded death penalty?
@1984: You need to take a careful look at yourself, if you want to use even an issue of this gravity for your own little purposes. Raise your level a bit, before you become a serious drag on society.
@1984:
Don't mock things you don't know about. Learn about them first then give your enlightened views.
Now to hope Supreme Court dismisses the matter at admission stage. And no mercy petition for these perverts.
@A2Z Good now next step is to amend the law and set the punishment of rapists as death.
I am not so sure about this. If the punishment for murder is death and the punishment for rape is also death then the chances are that most rapes will end in murder.
The rapist would want to destroy evidence of the crime, hence kill the victim after rape so that she does not identify him.
I support death penalty for all Rapes that End in murder but in case of just Rape I would not support death penalty only so that the victim does not get harmed further. It is not for the the human rights of the rapist, more so as maintaining a deterrent for the rapist not to murder the victim.
As I always say, we need to ensure the Surety of punishment rather than the Severity of it. What is the point of having a death penalty for rape when the conviction rate is 20%?
@Muslim: According to Sharia,the rapists would have been set free as there was one male witness and he was not 'pious' as he wasnt a muslim.....
Also the girl would have charged under adultery for seducing six innocent men in a bus......
Justice Done!!!
We need to learn from India and change our laws. Rape is huge but hidden problem. Servants are raped. Abuse goes on in families. Which women will have the courage to admit to rape and face the consequences.
Please let me know when they are hanged ....
Now we need to fix the Juvenile justice system.
Well done... I wish both Pakistan and India shall treat these rapist in the same way..
Good now next step is to amend the law and set the punishment of rapists as death. Now the so called human rights activists will start their campaign against this sentence because the rapists have human rights but the poor girl does not have any.
hanging in public would have been great but nevertheless as long as these creatures will be dead even a simple death penalty is fine.
These culprits thoroughly deserve the capital punishment as their crime has hurt the psyche of the nation. . However I do wish the judge had been more diligent. He should not have clubbed the four culprits together but should have tried each case individually. There is a possibility that one or more of those convicted may claim "guilt by association" and this may result in a longer appeals process.
I hope they get hanged tomorrow, if not tonight and shown live on the TV
This is justic
Indeed this is what islam rule is the order of shariah to the rapist...
In Pakistan you have to produce four male witnesses to prove rape charge otherwise the victim is charged under rape offense
Justice done and once the sentance has been carried out, it will more importantly be seen to have been done.
India has a rape-problem, and is doing something about it. Pakistan has the same, but fails to recognize even occurence of rape, much less its frequency. Pathetic state of affairs.
Well Done India!!
Hope this will act as deterrent against such heinous crimes!!! Must have given some solace to the departed soul now that justice has been served.......
Now thats justice. Well done!
Justice is upheld. Congratulations to all Indians on having a just judicial system.
It came after a long time. But good to see it happened.