Family of Delhi gang rape victim call for death penalty, 'Hang them'!

Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Thakur and Vinay Sharma were all found guilty of rape, murder, assault, kidnapping, robbery, and eight other charges at Saket Court, in South Delhi, India.

They were among six people accused of tricking the woman and her male companion into boarding an off-duty bus on December 16 after they had seen a matinee showing of 'Life of Pi' at a shopping mall.

The family of a 23-year-old medical student who died after being brutally gang raped on a bus in New Delhi demanded that her attackers be hanged today as four men were convicted of her murder.

They then raped her using a metal bar to inflict massive internal injuries before beating her friend. The victims were dumped naked on the roadside and the woman died from her injuries two weeks later.

Speaking outside court, the father of the victim, who cannot be identified under Indian law, said: 

'Now the court has held them guilty, we want them hanged. We expect nothing else but the death sentence.'

As the men were told the verdicts in the courtroom, chants of 'hang them' could be heard echoing outside.

The men, convicted on all the counts against them, including rape and murder, now face the possibility of hanging. They are expected to be sentenced tomorrow.

The crime, which left the victim with such extensive internal injuries that she died two weeks later, sparked widespread protests across the country and led to reforms of India's antiquated sexual violence laws.
Reading out today's verdict, Judge Yogesh Khanna said the men had committed 'murder of a helpless person.' 

The parents of the rape victim, who cannot be identified under Indian law, had tears in their eyes as the verdicts were read. They sat just a few feet from the convicted men in a tiny courtroom jammed with lawyers, police and reporters

AP Singh, a lawyer for the men, said all were innocent.

'These accused have been framed simply to please the public,' he told reporters. 'This is not a fair trial.

Outside the courthouse, where dozens of protesters had gathered, a chant began quickly after the verdict: 'Hang Them! Hang Them! Hang Them!' 

Protesters called the case a wake-up call for India. 

'Every girl at any age experiences this - harassment or rape. We don't feel safe,' said law school graduate Rapia Pathania. 'That's why we're here. We want this case to be an example for every other case that has been filed and will be filed.'

The teenager, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was given the maximum sentence possible under Indian law.

But despite having since turned 18, the attacker will not be publicly named.

The victim's family called for the teenager to be tried as an adult, accusing him of being the most violent of the attackers. 

'He should be hanged irrespective of whether he is a juvenile or not. He should be punished for what he did to my daughter,' said the mother of the victim, said soon after the verdict was announced.

'You may as well set the juvenile free, if the sentence is only three years for heinous offences like rape and murder,' she added tearfully.

The mother also said she would appeal against the verdict in a higher court.

'I am not happy with this judgment. At least in this case, the juvenile should have been sentenced to life,' the victim's brother told Reuters news agency.