Accused brought to Saket district court in a police van
Prosecutors sought the death sentence on Wednesday for four men convicted of the gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi in December, saying the "diabolical" crime had shocked the country's conscience.
Judge Yogesh Khanna heard arguments in a fast-track court today. On Friday, he will decide how to punish the men who were found guilty of "cold-blooded murder" on Tuesday. He convicted the men on 11 charges including gang rape, murder, theft and "unnatural offences". (
Read: 'Innocent!' shouted rapists, sentence on Friday)
"The test is 'was the collective conscience shocked?'. There can be no better example than this case," special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan told the packed court. He said, "They showed no mercy even when she prayed for mercy. There should be no mercy for merciless convicts"
The 23-year-old victim, a physiotherapy student who cannot be named for legal reasons, died of grievous internal injuries on December 29.
Her case served as a brutal call-to-action for a country long inured to sexual violence against women; thousands marched in the streets demanding change. (
Full coverage)
The student had been lured on to the private bus with a male friend after they left a South Delhi mall. After beating up the friend, the gang brutally assaulted her behind tinted windows for 45 minutes before flinging the bloodied, naked and barely conscious couple from the vehicle on a road leading to the international airport.
The four convicts -- Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh -- were led into the court by armed police and stood at the back of the court wearing t-shirts. (
Read: The men found guilty)
The mother of the girl they killed could be seen seated next to her husband as she listened intently to proceedings while dressed in a green sari.
"The manner (in which) they committed this crime and destroyed a life, they should not get anything less then the death sentence," she told NDTV last evening. (
Watch)