In view of the massive protests across the country, the Indian government put the gang rape case on a fast-track trial. Photo / Getty Images
In view of the massive protests across the country, the Indian government put the gang rape case on a fast-track trial. Photo / Getty Images
Four men convicted of a gang rape that shocked India and attracted worldwide attention will be executed.
India's top court upheld the death sentences of the four men convicted in the fatal gang-rape and torture of a 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Singh on a moving bus in the Indian capitalnearly five years ago. She died of grievous internal injuries 13 days after the attack.
The judgement was reportedly met with applause in the courtroom, reports News.com.au.
The court held that the nature of the crime, which triggered massive protests across India, made it an appropriate case for the death penalty.
It described the assault as "most brutal, barbaric and diabolical," and said Jyoti Singh, had suffered "a "devastating hour of darkness".
"If at all a case warrants the death sentence it is this case," said Judge R Bhanumati."
The victim's father said he was happy with the court judgment and demanded that the convicts be hanged quickly.
"The court heard our voice and gave justice," Badri Singh said. "We are very happy that (the) Supreme Court has heard our voice, and that they understood Nirbhaya's pain in this matter, and that along with Nirbhaya the whole country has found justice," he added, using a nickname for his daughter that means "fearless one."
"This is a historic decision and will set an example for the courts in dealing with criminals," he told AFP.
Father Badri Nath Singh (left) and brother Gaurav of Delhi gangrape victim during a press conference. Photo / Getty Images
Reject mercy
He said he and his wife would urge the president, who has the power to commute a death sentence, to reject any mercy petitions and ensure they were hanged "as soon as possible to conclude the process of justice".
Prosecutors said the four - Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh - took their victim to the back of a private bus in New Delhi, raping her and then damaging her internal organs, penetrating her with an iron bar.
She died two weeks later of injuries in a hospital in Singapore, where she was taken for treatment.
The brutality of the attack triggered what the judges on Friday described as a "tsunami of shock" in the Indian capital.
Thousands took to the streets to demand the government tackle the threat to women and urge the harshest punishment for Jyoti's attackers.
Outrage over the fatal rape prompted action on legislation doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalising voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women.
Indian politicians also voted to lower to 16 from 18 the age at which a person can be tried as an adult for heinous crimes.
Defence lawyer A.P. Singh, representing three of the men, said the court should have given a chance to reform and avoided the death penalty.
He said he would seek a review of Friday's judgment from Supreme Court judges.
Ram Singh, the bus driver and the fifth suspect in the crime, was found hanging in his cell in Tihar prison in March 2013, months before the suspects were convicted.
The sixth suspect was just months short of 18 years when the crime took place.
He walked out of a correction home in December 2015 after spending three years - the maximum punishment for minors - sparking public outrage and an overhaul of the juvenile law.
Actress Shabana Azmi consoles Nirbhaya's mother during the Nirbhaya Chetna Divas for speedy trial of the case on the third anniversary. Photo / Getty Images
Long road to justice
Indian courts are notorious for delays as more than 30 million cases are pending before them.
In view of the massive protests across the country, the Indian government put the gang rape case on a fast-track trial.
Swati Maliwal, chief of the New Delhi Commission for Women, said people in India were not scared of committing crimes because of long delays in bringing them to justice.
"The fact is that the road to justice is very, very long in this country," she said. "Even in this case, it has taken five years. But at least in five years, we are coming to a conclusion.
"There are women in the country who have been fighting court battles for 10 to 15 years." At least six rapes were taking place in the Indian capital every day, she said.
"Nothing much has changed because there is no fear among people that if they do something wrong, they will be punished," she said.
