The four men convicted of the gruesome gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student inside a moving bus last December were awarded the death sentence by a city court on Friday. The court had held all four guilty on Tuesday and reserved the order on the quantum of punishment for Friday.

The four accused — Mukesh (26), Vinay Sharma (20), Pawan Gupta (19) and Akshay Singh Thakur (28) — were found guilty on 13 counts of heinous crimes, including murder, gangrape, attempt to murder, unnatural offences, dacoity, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, kidnapping or abducting in order to murder.
In his order, Judge Yogesh Khanna said: “This incident has shocked the collective conscience of society. In these times, when crime against women is on the rise, courts cannot turn a blind eye towards such gruesome crimes.”
The horrific incident had led to nationwide protests, forcing the government to amend anti-rape laws making them more stringent.
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While justifying the capital punishment, the judge observed,“The victim was tortured till the very end and the case fell into the rarest of rare category. The offence in the present case has been committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting and this dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of society.”
The judge was also of the view that extreme misery had been inflicted upon the victim before her death and the crime has had a grave impact on the social order.
“The convicts in the most barbaric manner, pulled out her internal organs with their bare hands as well as by the rods and caused her irreparable injuries, thus exhibiting extreme mental perversion,” the judge said in his order.
“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 judge added.
The court declared that the gravity of the incident depicted the “hair-raising” and “beastly” behaviour of the convicts and that it had shaken the “collective conscience” of society.
“A crime of such nature against a helpless women, per se, requires exemplary punishment,” it said. The court observed: “The aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances in the case.”
The “severity” of the injuries and the “unprovoked” suffering inflicted upon the “defenceless” victim were relied upon by the court while handing down the capital punishment.
Stating that the “unprovoked crime” by the convicts demonstrated exceptional “depravity of mind”, the court said it relied upon the “severity” of the injuries and the “suffering” inflicted upon the “defenceless” victim while handing down the capital punishment.
Weighing the factors against and in favour of the convicts in deciding the punishment, the court said the aggravating circumstances are that the offence was committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting and thus dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of society.
The mitigating circumstances noted by the judge included the young age of the convicts, their socio-economic status, citing which they had sought a chance for reformation, and their clean antecedents.
While reacting to the verdict, the victim’s family expressed happiness that the accused had been give the death sentence. “We are happy. Justice has been finally delivered,” said the girl’s father who was present in the court. He also thanked the Delhi police and the prosecution lawyer for presenting a foolproof case in the court.
“I sincerely hope that this harsh punishment will act as a strong deterrent and such incidents will be avoided in future,” he said.
One of the convicts, Vinay Sharma, broke down in tears as the sentence was announced while the three other accused also appeared shocked as the judge pronounced the verdict. Defence lawyer A.P. Singh said the verdict had been influenced by public and political pressure. He said he would appeal in a higher court against the sentence.
Special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan, while expressing happiness over the sentence, said, “I hope the verdict will bring some faith and confidence in society. I have never seen a case of this brutality.”
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said he was hopeful that the death sentence in the case will act as major deterrent. While referring to defence counsel A.P. Singh’s claim that the verdict was delivered under political pressure, Mr Shinde said, “The judiciary follows the law and not political pressure.”
Union minister of state for home R.P.N. Singh said justice has been done finally to the 23-year-old victim. “Justice has been done. I agree with the judge that there has to be zero tolerance for such crimes. That is the message that has gone out with this sentence,” he said.
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said the severe punishment given to the convicts will act as a deterrent and that she was happy with the court verdict. “I welcome the judgment. Justice has prevailed. The fast-track court has delivered justice expeditiously. I hope that the judgment would prove to be a deterrent,” Ms Dikshit said.
According to women’s activist Ranjana Kumari, this is a critical judgment for women throughout the country and recognizes the need for a punishment that reflects the heinous nature of the crime.
“The decision to sentence the four perpetrators to death sets a new precedent in our response to sexual violence, in which perpetrators of violence who are convicted face strong punishments — even death. Finally justice delivered to the satisfaction of the family and also to the agitated nation. Also,a loud and clear message to the predators that they will be meted out similar fate,” she added.