Three men were sentenced to death Saturday by an Indian court for the gang-rape and murder of a student, in a case that sparked outrage over women's safety. A further three defendants were given life sentences for the gang-rape of the victim. The court in Kolkata handed down the sentences following their conviction on Thursday. The 21-year-old woman was targeted as she walked home after an exam in 2013 in eastern West Bengal state.
Senior public prosecutor Anindya Raut told AFP: "It was a gruesome crime, a rarest of the rarest case." Judge Sanchita Sarkar handed down the verdicts in a packed court which included the victim's family. "I award the death sentence to three convicts on charges of gang-rape and murder of the student and life imprisonment to three others for gang rape, criminal conspiracy and causing disappearance of evidence," Sarkar said. Scores of activists and people from the victim's home village were at court chanting slogans against the convicts and demanding death for all of them. Extra police officers were deployed outside the court following a scuffle Thursday between police and protesters who tried to enter the court complex. "Justice has failed us as two of the accused were acquitted and three were awarded life sentences," the victim's brother told AFP.
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