Jaipur, Oct 7 (IANS): A day after a special court awarded life sentence to four persons convicted in the Thanagaazi gang-rape case and sent the fifth accused, who made the rape video go viral on social media, to five years' rigorous imprisonment, the family members of the victim expressed their dissatisfaction over the verdict and demanded death penalty for the covicts.

Speaking to the media here, the victim's father, mother-in-law and brother-in-law said that the convicts should be hanged to death so that such heinous crimes are not repeated.

"We will appeal in the Supreme Court against the decision of the special court and demand death penalty for the convicts," they said in unison.

While pronouncing the verdict on Tuesday, special court judge Brijesh Kumar had compared the crime to Drapudi's 'cheerharan', saying the heinous act has shamed humanity.

The Thanagaazi gang-rape in Rajasthan was first reported on April 26, 2019 and it grabbed nationwide attention as the accused had raped the woman in front of her husband, filmed the act and made the video viral on social media.

A case was registered after the video went viral on May 2, six days after the crime. When the couple had earlier gone to lodge an FIR, the police had reportedly sent them back citing the busy schedule of the police due to the Lok Sabha polls.

The Rajasthan government drew flak from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati during the Lok Sabha election campaign over the delay in lodging an FIR in the case. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also visited Thanagaazi and met the family of the rape victim.

The four men sentenced to life are Indraj, Ashok, Chhotalal and Hansraj. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on them.

The fifth convicted person is Mukesh, who made the video viral, and has been sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment.

The accused had also demanded Rs 10,000 from the victim for not making the rape video viral on social media.