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Prosecutor demands death sentence to student’s rapists

On Tuesday, the court of the Indian capital found Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh guilty of rape and murder.

Photo EPA/SANJEEV GUPTA

Photo EPA/SANJEEV GUPTA

NEW DEHLI, September 11. (Itar-Tass). – The prosecutor demanded today to sentence to death four Indians that committed gang rape of a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern Jyoti Singh Pandey in December 2012.

On Tuesday, the court of the Indian capital found Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh guilty of rape and murder. “All the four should be sentenced to death,” counsel for the prosecution Diane Krishna said, adding that they ‘deserve supreme penalty’.

All in all, six persons participated in the crime. One of the defendants, Ram Singh earlier committed suicide in jail. Another one that was a minor (his name not disclosed) has been sentenced last week to three years in penal colony. This is the maximum penalty for minors in India.

Walking home at night, Jyoti Singh Pandey together with her boyfriend took a bus where were another six men. After a quarrel the men blocked the doors and for several hours raped the student, while her boyfriend was beaten with metal wands. After that the offenders threw the victims on the street and were trying to override them with the bus. Two weeks after, the girl died in the hospital, succumbing to injuries. Mass protests started across the country. People demanded to convict the attackers to death.

Earlier, India toughened penalties for rapists. Thus, the minimal sentence for gang rape or sexual assault on minors is currently 20 years imprisonment. The maximum penalty is life sentence with no right for amnesty. Additionally, if the crime is committed subsequently or leads to victim’s death, the court has the right to sentence the criminals to death.

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