Delhi gang-rape: All four convicts awarded death sentence
New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS): As a nation waited for the judgement with bated breath, a judge Friday just took only a few minutes to sentence four men to death for the merciless gang rape of a young woman in Delhi last December resulting in her death.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna, who presided over a fast-track court, said their "hair rising beastly and unparalleled behaviour" definitely qualified it as one of the "rarest of rare cases.
"Hence, I award the following punishment to each of the convict," the judge said, symbolically breaking the nib of the pen.
"Accordingly, the convicts be hanged by neck till they are dead."
The four men - Mukesh (26), Pawan Gupta (19), Vinay Sharma (20) and Akshay Thakur (28)- were convicted Tuesday in the case that shook the nation and got global attention.
The judge sentenced the four to death for murdering the 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist. On Tuesday he had found the four guilty on 11 counts, including murder, gang rape and dacoity.
"The subjecting of the prosecutrix (victim) to inhuman acts of torture before her death had not only shocked the collective conscience but calls for the withdrawal of the protective arm of the community around the convicts," the judgement said.
"These are the times when gruesome crimes against women have become rampant and courts cannot turn a blind eye to the need to send a strong deterrent message to the perpetrators of such crimes," the court said.
"The increasing trend of crimes against women can be arrested only once the society realize that there will be no tolerance from any form of deviance against women and more so in extreme cases of brutality such as the present one and hence the criminal justice system must instill confidence in the minds of people especially the women.
"The crime of such nature against a helpless women, per se, require exemplary punishment," he added.
As soon as the judge read out the sentence, Vinay Sharma fell down and started crying "Sir ji, Sir ji (please sir, please sir)" addressing the judge.
But soon the police took all the accused away.
Additional Public Prosecutor Dayan Krishnan said after the judgement was delivered: "All I can say is that I have done my job. I have never seen brutality like this."
He added that now the judgment will go to the Delhi High Court for the confirmation and the process take a maximum of 30 days.
Speaking to reporters outside the Saket court, defence lawyer A P Singh said that the death sentence was 'politically motivated' and he would appeal to the higher court. He slammed the government and home minister for influencing the decision of the court. When reporters pointed out whether he statement was not contempt of court, he said it was not.
"If the country wanted this case to be a deterrent, I will wait for two months to see the crime scene. If no rape takes place due to death being given in the instant case, I will give in writing that my clients be hanged," he said.
Mukesh's lawyer V.K. Anand said: "We will appeal in the high court. This did not deserve death sentence."
After the judgment was announced, there was loud cheering outside the District Court, Saket, where hundreds of people had gathered since noon.
The 23-year-old woman was brutally gang raped on a moving bus by six people, including a juvenile. The accused then threw her and her male companion out of the vehicle -- without clothes -- on the cold December night.
The woman died of her grave intestinal injuries Dec 29 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
One of the six accused was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar Jail while a juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31 sent by the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three years, the maximum under the juvenile law.
Timeline of Delhi gang rape case
* Dec 16, 2012: A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern raped by six people, including a juvenile, inside a moving bus in Delhi.
* Dec 17: Bus driver Ram Singh and two other accused are arrested.
* Dec 18: Protests over the incident, crowds clash with police in central Delhi. Fourth accused arrested.
* Dec 19: Two accused brought before a Delhi court. Accused Vinay tells court "hang me".
* Dec 21: Fifth accused, who was 17-and-half years old at the time of the crime, arrested from Anand Vihar in east Delhi while boarding a bus to flee to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh.
Sixth accused Akshay Kumar Singh nabbed from Bihar.
* Dec 22: Gang rape victim records statement before a sub-divisional magistrate.
* Dec 23: Fast track court set up by the Delhi High Court.
* Dec 24: The government announces setting up of a committee to suggest amendments to laws for speedy trials and enhanced punishment for criminals in rape cases.
* Dec 27: Victim airlifted to Singapore for treatment.
* Dec 29: She succumbs to her injuries at a Singapore hospital.
* Dec 30: The body of the gang rape victim flown back to Delhi, cremated.
* Jan 3, 2013: A case of rape, murder, kidnapping, destruction of evidence, and attempted murder filed against all the six accused in the case.
* Jan 7: Court orders in-camera trial.
* Jan 28: Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) declares that one of the accused is a minor.
* Feb 2: Fast track court paves the way for trial and charges five men for murder, gang rape and other offences.
* Feb 3: The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013, issued. The relevant bill passed by the Lok Sabha March 19 and the Rajya Sabha March 21, making laws more stringent.
* Feb 5: Trial begins in the case and court records statements of accused.
* March 11: Accused Ram Singh found hanging in his Tihar Jail cell.
* May 17: Victim's mother appears as a prosecution witness before the trial court and says "give justice to my daughter".
* June 14: Juvenile accused turns 18 in custody. Age determined based on school certificate.
* July 11: Juvenile Justice Board in New Delhi defers verdict on the minor accused to July 25.
* July 25: Juvenile Justice Board defers verdict on minor accused till Aug 5.
* Aug 22: The Supreme Court allows the juvenile board to go ahead with pronouncing its verdict.
* Aug 31: Juvenile Justice Board sentences the minor accused to a three-year stay in a special home.
* Sep 3: Delhi court reserves its order.
* Sep 10: All the four accused Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh are held guilty on all counts. Court to pronounce quantum of punishment Sep 11.
* Sep 11: Delhi court defers verdict on the four men accused to Sep 13.
* Sep 13: The court sentences to death Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh.
Death due to pressure from people: Akshay's family
Patna, Sep 13 (IANS): The death penalty awarded to the four men convicted in New Delhi's Dec 16 gang rape was given "due to heavy pressure from people across the country", said the family of Akshay Thakur, one of the convicts.
Akshay Thakur is among the four men who were sentenced to death Friday for the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in New Delhi.
"Court's order is on expected line due to heavy pressure from people across the country. We were hoping against hope," Akshay's father Saryu Singh told IANS.
"Even God has left us at the mercy of the court that awarded capital punishment to my son," said Saryu Singh, a marginal farmer in his 60s, over telephone from Lahang Karma village under Nabinagar police station jurisdiction in the Maoist affected Aurangabad district, about 150 km from here.
Akshay's mother Malti Devi, in her mid 50s, and Akshay's wife Punita Devi, are inconsolable after they watched news that four men including Akshay were sentenced to death.
"For all of us, it is a saddest news. My mother and sister-in-law have been crying and have fainted at least thrice after they watched the news," Abhay Singh, one of the two brothers of Akshay Thakur, said.
Abhay said the entire family and some relatives remain glued to TV to catch the news since early Friday.
"We watched TV and were hopeful for some relief. It proved useless as Akshay's fate was decided the day he was convicted by the court. It (The sentence) was merely delivered now," he said.
Dinesh Singh, another brother of Akshay, said dozens of local mediapersons and people from nearby villages gathered outside his thatched house to know the mood of the family after the court's order.