By Kajol Singh / INN Bureau
All the four convicts - Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Mukesh Singh and Pawan Gupta - in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student inside a private bus in Delhi have been sentenced to death by the Saket fast track trial court.
Immediately after the sentence was announced all convicts broke down in the court while there were celebrations among anti-rape protesters outside the Saket court complex. The death penalty has been awarded under Section 302 (murder) as the braveheart had died due to the injuries inflicted by the convicts.
The judge Yogesh Khanna called it a rarest of rare case and said that looking at the gravity of the incident and inhuman torture, it is death penalty to all. "In these times when crime against women is on the rise courts cannot turn a blind eye towards such barbaric and gruesome crime.
There cannot be any tolerance. This crime in every way falls within the rarest of rare category warranting a death sentence," said the judge.
The father of the Delhi braveheart welcomed the sentence saying he was very happy and wanted to thank everyone who supported them. But defence lawyer AP Singh alleged that his clients have been sentenced to death under political pressure adding that he will appeal against the verdict in the High Court.
The sentencing of the four convicts comes nine months after the extremely brutal gangrape and murder of the Delhi braveheart which shook the national conscience and led to massive protests forcing the government to make changes in the anti-rape laws.
Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Mukesh Singh and Pawan Gupta had been held guilty on all counts including gangrape, murder, unnatural offence, dacoity, kidnapping and destruction of evidence on September 10 and the arguments over the sentencing concluded the next day. The court while convicting the four had said that the injuries inflicted on the victim clearly show that their intention was not only to rape but also to kill the girl and their actions were premeditated.
The court maintained that all the four were participants in the assault quashing the question as to who committed rape and who didn't. Six men were arrested for committing the heinous crime but one of the accused Ram Singh was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Tihar Jail.
The court on Tuesday said that though the case against him was dropped, he was equally responsible for the crime. Another of the six arrested was pronounced a minor and was convicted and given the maximum punishment of three years in a correctional facility. The braveheart had fought her terrible wounds for 13 days before succumbing to her injuries in December 2012.
