The four men accused of gang-raping a student on a bus in New Delhi have been found guilty of rape and murder.
Judge Yogesh Khanna announced: "I convict all of the accused. They have been found guilty of gang rape, unnatural offences, destruction of evidence.. and for committing the murder of the helpless victim."
The anticipation towards the verdict reached fever-pitch and the verdict itself spread like wildfire in the social media like twitter and Facebook.
Reporters from numerous medias deployed on location have been diligently updating the public with information on the case since early today.
Earlier, while wating for the verdict to be delivered, the parents of the popular physiotherapy student have been at the forefront of calls for the men to be hanged over the December 16 attack in New Delhi, which led to a wave of soul-searching and a new anti-rape law.
Their 23-year-old daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died of her injuries on December 29 in a Singapore hospital.
The four men, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma, have all pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include 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 are alleged to have subjected the pair to a horrifying 45-minute ordeal that ended with both of them thrown out of the bus, virtually unconscious and naked.
- AFP
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