Stating that no court can turn a blind eye to such "a gruesome act”, the additional sessions judge, Yogesh Khanna, read out the verdict. [break]
"Death to all," he said in the case that had evoked nationwide outrage and led the Indian government to bring in a stringent anti-rape law.
Gym instructor Vinay Sharma, bus cleaner Akshay Kumar Singh, fruit-seller Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh, who were found guilty on 13 charges, including murder and rape, were given the death sentence.
Out of the six arrested in the case, one Ram Singh committed suicide inside Tihar Jail on March 11. Another accused, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was sent to a reformatory for three years by a juvenile court last week.
The court cited Section 302 (Murder) of the Indian Penal Code and said, "This falls under the inhuman nature of the convicts and the gravity of the offence they committed cannot be tolerated. Death sentence is given to all the four convicts."
The offence committed by Mukesh Singh (26), Thakur (28), Gupta (19) and Akshay Kumar Singh (20) falls under the rarest of rare category warranting capital punishment, the judge was quoted by local media as saying.
Besides murder, the four have also been convicted for offences including gang rape, unnatural offences, attempt to murder, dacoity, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, and kidnapping or abducting in order to murder.
The four were convicted by the court on September 10 for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student.
"This is a time when serious crime against a woman has come to the fore and now it´s the judiciary´s responsibility to instil confidence among women," the judgement read.
The few journalists who were allowed inside the court room told mediapersons after the verdict that upon hearing that he would face the gallows, Sharma started crying while the other three convicts started shouting for pardon, with one of the defence lawyers also joining them in calling for mercy.
Advocate V K Anand, who appeared for Mukesh Singh, said he had due regard for the verdict and would file an appeal at Delhi High Court.
On the night of December 16 last year, the six including the juvenile had gang-raped the girl in a bus after luring her and her 28-year-old male friend, who was also assaulted, on board the vehicle. The bus was later found to be plying illegally on Delhi roads.
The victim´s friend, a software engineer, suffered fractured limbs in the incident. The girl succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital.
The brutality of the incident led to huge protests in the streets of Delhi last year. The juvenile was said to be the most brutal of all.
Justice is done: Shinde
Soon after the verdict, India´s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that the victim and her family had gotten justice.
"This was the rarest of rare crimes. Damini (name given to the victim) and her family now have justice. I welcome the court ruling," Shinde told reporters in Delhi.
"The ´nyay devta´ (god of justice) has set a new example... if you commit such a heinous crime, then you will get stringent punishment," the minister said.
"There was an atmosphere in the country after this incident...We expected such a punishment," Shinde was quoted by local media as stating.
Victim´s family applaud verdict
Immediately after the pronouncement of the sentences, the victim´s mother expressed satisfaction over the verdict.
Speaking to Indian media, she said, "We are now relieved. I thank the people of my country and the media."
Besides her, the victim´s father and two brothers were also present in the jam-packed court room when the sentences were pronounced.
The girl´s mother also said that no such victims should remain silent and must come forward to lodge complaints.
(With inputs from PTI)
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