By AFP

Indian rights groups voiced dismay Saturday over death sentences handed to four men for a fatal gang rape, saying it was unlikely to reverse the country's "rape crisis" despite a clamour for their execution.

After a seven-month fast-track trial, Judge Yogesh Khanna said Friday the four men should be "hanged by the neck til they are dead" for the brutal rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus last December.

After the sentencing, people distributed sweets on the street in celebration and tweeted that "justice" had been served.

But on Saturday, rights network Avaaz slammed the verdict, urging the government instead to launch a mass public education campaign to stop India's "rape epidemic".

"Executing these men won't bring back the woman they raped or reverse India's rape crisis. The only way to stop rape before it starts is with a massive public education campaign," the online activist network said.

Indian newspapers splashed the sentencing on their front pages along with mug shots of the four convicts whose crime shocked the nation and triggered weeks of street protests.

"Showed no mercy, got no mercy" screamed a banner headline in the English language Hindustan Times while the Times of India said "Death for four for dastardly, diabolical, brutal crime".

In the lead-up to the sentencing, there had been a huge clamour for the four -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- to be executed for their attack on the physiotherapy student and her male companion on December 16.

The papers, however, wondered if handing down the death penalty in rape cases would make women any safer across the country.

Last year, there were 24,923 cases of rape reported in India, according to the government's official statistics. But the actual figure is believed to be far higher with experts saying women are reluctant to file complaints for fear of social stigma in the socially conservative nation.

An editorial in The Hindu newspaper was scathing in its criticism of the verdict, saying it would serve little purpose other than providing a "false comfort of retribution".

"In meting out the hangman's justice... the sessions court has regrettably missed an opportunity to turn the discourse away from retributive punishment to constructive dialogue on policing and legal reforms," it wrote under the headline, "Crimes death can't wish away".

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died of massive internal injuries on December 29 after being lured on to the private bus by the gang following a cinema trip with a companion.

In handing out the sentence, judge Khanna said the crime fell into the "rarest of rare category" that justified capital punishment under India's legal system.

Kavita Krishnan of the All India Progressive Women's Association said the punishment was hardly going to serve as a deterrent.

"In the same court, there were acquittals in 20 out of 23 rape cases. Potential rapists can see how remote their chances of conviction are, leave alone the punishment," she told AFP.

The Hindustan Times said the verdict was "not an occasion to rejoice" because it would not stop sex crimes.

To make India safer for women, "we must tackle deep-rooted social problems", it said.

Human Rights Watch called the verdict "troubling".

"It may have a popular appeal and seem like the easy option, but the government should abolish this inhumane measure and get down to the harder task of institutional reform," the group's regional director Meenakashi Ganguly said.

"That would be the way to really protect women and girls from future attacks," she added.



EARLIER STORY: Death for four convicted

The judge hearing the case of four men convicted for fatally gang raping a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi last December sentenced them to death on Friday.

Judge Yogesh Khanna said the case fell into the "rarest of rare category", which justified capital punishment.

"In these times when crimes against women are on the rise,. court cannot turn a blind eye to this gruesome act," he said.

All the four suspects were teary eyed as they entered the cramped room dressed more smartly than on Tuesday when they were convicted of a string of charges including murder and gang rape.

One of the men, Vinay Sharma, broke down in tears and cried loudly as the sentence was announced.

As the news broke, crowds inside the building and outside the courtroom roared with cheers and applauded the judgement.

The prosecution team congratulated each other, with lead lawyer Dayan Krishnan saying: "We did our job. We are happy with this sentence."

The father of the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the family was also satisfied as he left with his wife and sons.

"We are very happy. Justice has been delivered," he told reporters inside court flanked by his wife and sons.

EARLIER:

Four men will learn Friday if they are to hang for the shocking murder and gang rape of an Indian student after her parents begged for the "cold-blooded" killers' execution.

Three days after finding the gang guilty of a murderous assault which sickened a nation, Judge Yogesh Khanna will announce whether it fulfils the "rarest of rare" criteria for crimes that merit capital punishment.

There has been a huge clamour for the four -- Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh -- to be executed for their attack on a 23-year-old physiotherapy student and her male companion on board a bus on December 16.

After prosecution lawyers argued on Wednesday the gang were guilty of a "diabolical" crime, the victim's mother implored the judge to hand down the death sentence.

"We beg the court that justice should be given to our daughter," said the mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her late daughter.

"It was not merely a mistake, they planned and killed her mercilessly," she told reporters.

The victim's father has said only the death penalty can bring the family some closure.

India had an unofficial eight-year moratorium on capital punishment until last November when the only surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks was executed. Weeks later, a Kashmiri was hanged over his role in an attack on parliament a decade ago.

During Wednesday's hearing, defence lawyers argued Judge Khanna should resist "political pressure" and instead jail the gang for life, citing the youth of their clients who are all in their teens or 20s.

The gang's relatives have also been pleading for their lives to be spared.

"I am hopeful that God will help us during the worst crisis in our life," Thakur's mother told AFP from the family's home in the state of Bihar where she has been praying to Hindu deities all week.

Handing down his verdict at the end of a seven-month trial Tuesday, Khanna found the men guilty of the "cold-blooded" murder of a "helpless victim" whose fight for life won her the nickname of Braveheart.

Feelings though are running high in a country disgusted by daily reports of gang rapes and sex assaults on children.

A total of 1,098 cases of rape have been reported to police in Delhi alone so far this year, according to figures in The Times of India on Friday.

That represents a massive increase on the 450 recorded in the same period last year, although campaigners say the rise is reflective of a greater willingness by victims to come forward after the December 16 attack.

Since the convictions, newspapers have printed graphic details of the onslaught against the student, including of the internal injuries she suffered while being violated with a rusty iron bar before being thrown naked off the bus.

Her injuries were so severe that she died nearly a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. She briefly regained consciousness, telling family and friends of her desire to see her attackers burn to death.

Lawyers for the men have already said they will appeal the convictions in the Delhi High Court, which will spell years of argument and delays in India's notoriously slow legal system.

In appeal, the defence is likely to advocate lesser sentences for some of the gang, and argue it was a "spur of the moment" crime and not premeditated.

There was widespread anger after a juvenile who was convicted last month for his role in the bus attack was sentenced to just three years in a correctional facility -- the maximum allowed by law.

The gang all lived in and around Ram Dass Camp, an unauthorised slum in southern Delhi where former neighbours have called for their execution.

"They deserve the harshest punishment... Reform is out of the question," said Maur Singh, a one-time neighbour who promised to hand out sweets in celebration if the judge sends the gang to the gallows.

Rattled by the mass protests, the government rushed through new anti-rape laws and ordered the trial be held in a special fast-track court.

The home minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, has been quoted as saying the new laws "will ensure capital punishment for such a heinous crime" -- comments that defence lawyers say undermine judicial independence.

Senior opposition politicians have joined in the clamour while activists have protested outside the court, wearing hooded masks and mock nooses.



Here is a timeline of the major events leading up to sentencing Friday of four adults for the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus last December.

December 16, 2012: The physiotherapy student goes out for an early evening screening of the "Life of Pi" at a cinema with her male friend at an upmarket shopping mall in south Delhi.

Unable to track down a taxi or auto rickshaw, they are tricked onto a white private bus at around 9:00pm which they believe will take them back home.

Inside, a group of six draw the curtains, beat up and rob the male friend and then take turns in raping the girl as the bus drives around the capital.

After more than an hour, the bloodied young couple are dumped by a main road leading to the international airport, narrowly avoiding death when the gang try to reverse over them with the vehicle.

December 17: Police open a case and begin viewing CCTV footage from cameras fitted outside hotels, offices and government buildings. They identify a white bus with a missing wheel cap and "Yadav" written on both sides.

The driver of the bus Ram Singh is arrested. Inside the vehicle, the seats and curtains have been washed.

Police say forensic experts find strands of hair belonging to the victim and some of the attackers in the bus.

December 18: Fuelled by wall-to-wall television coverage and front-page newspaper articles, large numbers of women, students and other protestors hold demonstrations as the rape victim battles for life on a ventilator.

December 22: Police use batons, water cannon and tear gas on angry crowds who gather at the India Gate memorial in the heart of the city and outside the president's official residence.

All six accused have now been arrested and remanded in police custody.

The government sets up an inquiry to suggest ways to enhance women's safety in Delhi.

December 24: Two Delhi police officers are suspended for failing to halt the bus at checkpoints designed to stop suspicious vehicles. Roads across central Delhi are blocked as protests continue.

December 26: The gang-rape victim is airlifted to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital after her condition deteriorates in Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. In one of many operations, doctors in India remove her intestines which were damaged when she was violated with an iron bar.

December 29: The woman dies from organ failure in Singapore, spurring more protests in New Delhi.

January 28, 2013: The Juvenile Justice Board declares one of the rapists is a minor, sparking a fierce debate about the criminal justice system for under-18s and demands for him to stand trial as an adult.

February 2: The five adult accused are charged with a string of offences, including murder, gang-rape, kidnapping and robbery. They are sent to judicial custody in Tihar Jail. Three weeks later, the juvenile is charged with the same offences.

March 11: Ram Singh, the main accused and a public hate-figure, is found dead in his cell after an apparent suicide. His family and lawyer allege murder.

March 21: India's parliament completes the passing of a tougher rape law which includes a provision for the death sentence if the victim dies. It also provides for a minimum 20-year prison sentence for gang rape.

August 31: The juvenile suspect is found guilty of rape and murder and sentenced to three years in a correctional facility -- the maximum possible sentence for the teenager under Indian law.

September 10: The four adult suspects -- Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta -- are found guilty of all charges. The judge says they committed a "cold-blooded" murder.

September 13: Judge Yogesh Khanna is set to deliver the sentence under enormous public and political pressure for the death sentence.



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