New Delhi (CNN) An Indian court has sentenced three men to life imprisonment on Monday for the kidnap, rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Jammu and Kashmir state last year, in a high-profile case that sparked widespread protests across the country. Three other men have each received five years in prison for destruction of evidence.

Special prosecutor Santokh Singh said in a statement to reporters outside the court in Pathankot, Punjab state, that they would be appealing the sentences passed against the accused, along with the acquittal of another man.

"The court has given the benefit of doubt to that man. And the prosecution side is definitely going to file an appeal against the acquittal... We are also filing an appeal in the other cases too for the announcement of the sentence," said Singh.

Another accused, who has been charged as a juvenile is undergoing a separate trial.

The victim, who belonged to a Muslim nomadic group known as the Bakarwals and whose identity is protected by Indian law, was abducted while she was alone in a field grazing horses in the town of Kathua in Jammu.