--- description: Four of the six men who lured a 23-year-old student onto a bus and then brutally gang raped her are to be executed title: Indian Court Backs Death Penalty for New Delhi Gang Rapists image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ee80be33d8f877c/69868565e8524b70c5601cf1/int_india_rape_0314.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Indian Court Backs Death Penalty for New Delhi Gang Rapists by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 14, 2014 4:57 AM CUT  Vinay Sharma (wearing white T-shirt), one of the four men who were sentenced to death for fatally raping a young woman on a bus last December, is escorted by police outside a court in New Delhi Sept. 24, 2013. Vinay Sharma (wearing white T-shirt), one of the four men who were sentenced to death for fatally raping a young woman on a bus last December, is escorted by police outside a court in New Delhi Sept. 24, 2013.Reuters by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 14, 2014 4:57 AM CUT 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/24470/indian-court-backs-death-penalty-for-new-delhi-gang-rapists/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/24470/indian-court-backs-death-penalty-for-new-delhi-gang-rapists/"},"headline":"Indian Court Backs Death Penalty for New Delhi Gang Rapists","datePublished":"2014-03-14T04:57:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:46:03.301Z","description":"Four of the six men who lured a 23-year-old student onto a bus and then brutally gang raped her are to be executed","url":"https://time.com/24470/indian-court-backs-death-penalty-for-new-delhi-gang-rapists/","keywords":["Rape","Death Penalty","Delhi"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ee80be33d8f877c/69868565e8524b70c5601cf1/int_india_rape_0314.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ee80be33d8f877c/69868565e8524b70c5601cf1/int_india_rape_0314.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"INT_india_rape_0314","caption":"Vinay Sharma (wearing white T-shirt), one of the four men who were sentenced to death for fatally raping a young woman on a bus last December, is escorted by police outside a court in New Delhi Sept. 24, 2013.","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/24470/indian-court-backs-death-penalty-for-new-delhi-gang-rapists/","name":"Indian Court Backs Death Penalty for New Delhi Gang Rapists"}}]}] ```