New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS): A Delhi court Tuesday convicted four men for the Dec 16, 2012, gang rape here of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who subsequently died of her grave injuries.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna found the four men guilty under charges of gang rape, murder, attempt to murder the victim's male friend, unnatural offences, destruction of evidence and dacoity among other offences.
The quantum of sentence will be announced Wednesday, the judge said.
The four accused, held in jail since the crime was committed, were present in the court when the verdict was pronounced.
"I convict all the accused persons for gang rape, murder of helpless victim, attempt to kill complainant (victim's male friend), conspiracy, common intention, destruction of evidence....," the judge said while convicting the accused.
The accused face the maximum punishment of death in the case.
The court's verdict on Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur came after almost nine months of the brutal crime in which the physiotherapy intern was gang raped in a moving bus.
Vinay Sharma began to cry on hearing the judgment.
The gory incident sparked nationwide protests and nudged the central government into enacting a stringent anti-rape law.
While one of the six original accused men was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar jail, a juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31 sent by the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three years after it concluded that he was involved in rape and murder.
The incident occurred after the woman and her male companion boarded the bus in Munirka in south Delhi.
The six attackers on the bus threw both the physiotherapist intern and her male companion out of the vehicle -- without clothes -- on the street in the cold December night after committing the ghastly crime, police said.
The gang raped woman died of her injuries Dec 29 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where she was airlifted for specialised treatment.
The gory attack sparked protests across the country with some people demanding the execution of the attackers and some calling for their chemical castration.
The charge sheet in the case was filed Jan 3 and the trial started Feb 5. The prosecution presented 85 witnesses and the defence 17.
Police said in the charge sheet the juvenile was the most brutal of all the accused.
Timeline of the case
* Dec 16, 2012: A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern raped by six people, including a juvenile, inside a moving bus.
* Dec 17: Bus driver Ram Singh and two other accused 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 he was 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: The 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 five 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 allowed 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 held guilty on all counts. Court to pronounce quantum of punishment Sep 11.
Watch Video