A 23-year-old Delhi student was brutally gang-raped and murdered by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi in December 2012.

Sessions Judge Satish Arora has passed a death sentence on all four imprisoned: Mukesh, Ravi, Vinay and Akshay convicted in the attack that happened on board a bus in India.

They will be executed on 22 January at 7am Indian Standard Time (IST).

The four men have been given 14 days to appeal, and the Patiala House court has given them 14 days to file mercy petitions with the President and the Supreme Court.

In December 2019, the Supreme Court of India dismissed Akshay Kumar's petition for a review of his case. Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the plea filed by Akshay. The court said: “Considering the submissions, we have said that the petitioner has sought to assail the facts yet again which can't be done at this stage.”

The Delhi High Court in 2014 and the Supreme Court in 2017 had upheld the convictions in the gang-rape and murder case and confirmed the death sentences awarded to the convicts – Akshay, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh.

Last year, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh Singh filed a review petition in the Supreme Court asking it to reconsider its 2017 order that had upheld their convictions.

The father of Delhi gang-rape victim has said: “I am happy with the court's decision. The convicts will be hanged at 7 am on 22nd January; this decision will instill fear in people who commit such crimes.”

The mother of the victim said: "My daughter has got justice. The execution of the four convicts will empower the women of the country. This decision will strengthen the trust of people in the judicial system."

​The 2012 Delhi gang-rape case involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi. The rape and murder of the 23-year-old woman had led to country-wide outrage over the safety of women in the country.