A fast track court in Delhi pronounces four accused guilty in the December 16 gangrape case in which a 23-year-old paramedic student was brutally assaulted and raped and she finally succumbed to her injuries, thirteen days after the incident
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna found the four men guilty under charges of gang rape, murder, attempt to murder the victim's male friend, unnatural offences, destruction of evidence and dacoity among other offences.u00a0
The quantum of sentence will be announced Wednesday, the judge said.
ADVERTISEMENT
u00a0
People protesting the December 16 brutal gangrape. File pic: AFP
The four accused, held in jail since the crime was committed, were present in the court when the verdict was pronounced.
u00a0
"I convict all the accused persons for gang rape, murder of helpless victim, attempt to kill complainant (victim's male friend), conspiracy, common intention, destruction of evidence....," the judge said while convicting the accused.
u00a0
The accused face the maximum punishment of death in the case.
u00a0
The court's verdict on Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur came after almost nine months of the brutal crime in which the physiotherapy intern was gang raped in a moving bus.
u00a0
Vinay Sharma began to cry on hearing the judgment.
u00a0
The gory incident sparked nationwide protests and nudged the central government into enacting a stringent anti-rape law.
u00a0
While one of the six original accused men was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar jail, a juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31 sent by the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three years after it concluded that he was involved in rape and murder.
u00a0
The incident occurred after the woman and her male companion boarded the bus in Munirka in south Delhi.
u00a0
The six attackers on the bus threw both the physiotherapist intern and her male companion out of the vehicle -- without clothes -- on the street in the cold December night after committing the ghastly crime, police said.
u00a0
The gang raped woman died of her injuries Dec 29 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where she was airlifted for specialised treatment.
u00a0
The gory attack sparked protests across the country with some people demanding the execution of the attackers and some calling for their chemical castration.
u00a0
The charge sheet in the case was filed Jan 3 and the trial started Feb 5. The prosecution presented 85 witnesses and the defence 17.
u00a0
Police said in the charge sheet the juvenile was the most brutal of all the accused.
u00a0
Sensational rape cases that rocked Delhi post Dec 16u00a0
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:
u00a0
- 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
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
