Defence counsel appearing for Pawan Gupta, one of the convicted in the Dec 16 gang rape and murder case, Wednesday pleaded for mercy citing his young age. Gupta, a fruit vendor, is 19 years old
Defence counsel also said the crime was committed on the spur of the moment and was not premeditated. Counsel opposed the prosecution's demand for death penalty for the convicted, and said life imprisonment may be given to Pawan instead of death.
Pawan is 'just 19 years old and there are chances of his reform', the advocate said. Arguing on the quantum of sentence in the case, the prosecution sought death penalty for the four men accused who were convicted for the gang rape and murder of the physiotherapist intern.
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The court Tuesday called the crime 'premeditated' and 'brutal'. The case shook the nation, and raised a howl of protests.u00a0
Sensational rape cases that rocked Delhi post Dec 16
After the headline-grabbing Dec 16 gang rape last year, Delhi recorded over 1,000 rapes till Aug 15 this year. We list some of the more sensational ones:
* Dec 16, 2012: A 23-year-old physiotherapy student gang-raped by six people, including a juvenile, inside a moving bus in south Delhi.
* March 13, 2013: A seven-year-old girl raped inside a North Delhi Municipal corporation school in Mangolpuri.
* March 13: 17-year-old girl gang-raped by her four classmates in west Delhi's Bawana.
* April 15: A five-year-old girl abducted and repeatedly raped by her neighbour for two days in east Delhi's Gandhi Nagar.
* April 27: A six-year-old girl sexually assaulted in a public toilet and her private parts were mutilated with sharp object in west Delhi's Bawana.
* May 16: A 10-year-old girl raped by a tantrik in south Delhi's Govindpuri.u00a0