FOUR GUILTY OF BUS GANG RAPE THAT SICKENED INDIA

September 10, 2013: An Indian court convicted four men of the gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student on board a moving bus in a crime that sickened the nation.
Judge Yogesh Khanna said the men, who could now face the death penalty, were guilty of murdering a "helpless victim" as he announced that arguments for sentencing of the four will be held on Wednesday (September 11).
"I convict all of the accused," Khanna said.
"They have been found guilty of gang rape, unnatural offences, destruction of evidence... and for committing the murder of the helpless victim."
The four -- Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma -- had all pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included murder, gang rape and theft.
A juvenile has already been sentenced to three years in a correctional facility, while a fifth adult defendant, bus driver Ram Singh, was found hanging in his prison cell in March while awaiting trial.
The seven-month trial has been held in a special fast-track court in south Delhi, with more than 100 witnesses called to give evidence, including 85 for the prosecution.
During the trial, the prosecution produced DNA evidence, the victim's dying testimony and statements from a male companion who was beaten up during the attack.
The victim and her companion had spent the evening watching a movie at a mall in south Delhi when they were picked up by one of the many private buses plying the streets.
But rather than take them home, the group subjected the pair to a horrifying 45-minute ordeal that ended with both of them thrown out of the bus, virtually unconscious and naked.
The student's family were bitterly disappointed with the three-year sentence handed down last month on the youngest defendant, the maximum allowed by law as he was only 17 at the time of the attack.
The attack sparked weeks of sometimes violent street protests across India with seething public anger about sex crimes against women.
It also led to tougher laws for sex offenders, including the death penalty for rapists whose victims die or are left in a vegetative state. (Sources: AFP, 10/09/2013)