Indian Court Backs Death Penalty for New Delhi Gang Rapists

The Delhi High Court on Thursday afternoon confirmed death sentences for four men convicted of the heinous gang rape and murder of a medical student in the Indian capital.

The incident sparked mass protests across the South Asian nation. A fast track court initially sentenced the four men to death in September last year.

A fifth accomplice apparently committed suicide in his prison cell, while a sixth — a juvenile at the time of the attack — is serving a three-year sentence in a correction home.

The four men on death row may still appeal to the Supreme Court, and failing that for Presidential clemency.

The Dec. 16 gang rape marked a watershed for the women’s movement in India and led to a new anti-rape law, which now makes even stalking and voyeurism punishable crimes.