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All four adult convicts in the gruesome Delhi gang rape last December were sentenced to death for rape, murder and destruction of evidence in a historic judgment by a fast track court here Friday.
The court said the sentences were given as the "rarest of the rare" case given the gravity of the crime and inhuman torture of the victim by the convicts, said local TV channel CNN-IBN.
The family of the victim, 23-year-old medical student, immediately expressed satisfaction while thanking the court, police and lawyers.
The Delhi gang rape saw the victim being raped and tortured to death by six men on a moving bus in south Delhi. The minor offender in the case was earlier given three years' sentence in a correctional home while the main accused in the case was found hanged himself in jail.
The gang rape triggered unprecedented protests in India and is a wake-up call for the protection of women who are frequently subjected to violence in the country.
Both government officials and police hailed the judgment as an example to deter the rampant crimes against women.
Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that the family and the girl have received justice.
"Justice is done," he told local media, adding that the court has set an example that if one commits such a crime, then punishment will be meted out.
"It's a subject of satisfaction for our investigating team," Joint Police Commander Tejinder Luthra of Delhi Police told the media.
The court, while pronouncing the judgment, said that "it cannot turn a blind eye on the rising cases of sexual assault against women" and that the incident shook the "collective conscience of the society," according to a live blog on Times of India online.
"Need to send a message that it will not be tolerated," the judge was quoted as saying.
However, the defense lawyer allege a government conspiracy behind the death sentence. "I will appeal against this punishment, " he was quoted as saying on the blog.
