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| In Case That Transfixed a Nation, Court in India Convicts Four Men of Rape | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| NEW DELHI — Four men were convicted of all charges on Tuesday in the rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman who was attacked when she boarded a bus here in December, bringing a bitter close to a case that made this rapidly changing society confront the subject of sexual violence. | NEW DELHI — Four men were convicted of all charges on Tuesday in the rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman who was attacked when she boarded a bus here in December, bringing a bitter close to a case that made this rapidly changing society confront the subject of sexual violence. |
| The last and most urgent question — whether any of the men will receive the death penalty — will be answered Wednesday, when they are to be sentenced at a morning hearing. The family of the victim has demanded death sentences, and much of the public seemed to share their anger, flooding the streets last year to demand swift punishment in the case. The police here were braced for protests that might follow the sentencing. | The last and most urgent question — whether any of the men will receive the death penalty — will be answered Wednesday, when they are to be sentenced at a morning hearing. The family of the victim has demanded death sentences, and much of the public seemed to share their anger, flooding the streets last year to demand swift punishment in the case. The police here were braced for protests that might follow the sentencing. |
| The crime stood out for its horror, even in this sprawling and chaotic city. | The crime stood out for its horror, even in this sprawling and chaotic city. |
| The woman was returning home from a movie with a male friend and boarded a private bus with a group of men, mostly working-class migrants who the police said had been drinking. While the bus circled Delhi, the men attacked the pair, knocked the woman’s friend unconscious and took the woman to the back of the bus and raped her, sometimes using a metal rod. The two were dumped off on the roadside, naked and bleeding. | The woman was returning home from a movie with a male friend and boarded a private bus with a group of men, mostly working-class migrants who the police said had been drinking. While the bus circled Delhi, the men attacked the pair, knocked the woman’s friend unconscious and took the woman to the back of the bus and raped her, sometimes using a metal rod. The two were dumped off on the roadside, naked and bleeding. |
| The woman died two weeks later of her injuries. | The woman died two weeks later of her injuries. |
| Her death seemed to open a vault here, and nine months later reports of rape still saturate the country’s newspapers — whether because of increased attacks or increased reporting is not clear. Under pressure to respond to the surge of public anger, the government toughened laws on sexual violence. But the drumbeat of fresh reports offers little hope that this society has tackled the problem, and foreign women have become increasingly wary of traveling to India. | Her death seemed to open a vault here, and nine months later reports of rape still saturate the country’s newspapers — whether because of increased attacks or increased reporting is not clear. Under pressure to respond to the surge of public anger, the government toughened laws on sexual violence. But the drumbeat of fresh reports offers little hope that this society has tackled the problem, and foreign women have become increasingly wary of traveling to India. |
| After the verdict, a group of protesters stood outside, five of them men wearing black hoods, with heavy nooses looped around their necks. Young women stood with them, holding the ropes aloft. “Hang the rapists! Hang the rapists! Hang the juvenile! Hang the juvenile!” they chanted. | After the verdict, a group of protesters stood outside, five of them men wearing black hoods, with heavy nooses looped around their necks. Young women stood with them, holding the ropes aloft. “Hang the rapists! Hang the rapists! Hang the juvenile! Hang the juvenile!” they chanted. |
| Vikas Tyagi, 31, who was with the protesters, said he thought executions were necessary to put an end to rapes. | Vikas Tyagi, 31, who was with the protesters, said he thought executions were necessary to put an end to rapes. |
| “Only fear can stop it,” he said. “We are the youth of India. We are her voice.” | “Only fear can stop it,” he said. “We are the youth of India. We are her voice.” |
| The prosecution benefited from detailed witness statements given by the victim before she died, and from her male companion, who came to court in a wheelchair to testify. But despite the establishment of special fast-track courts for sex crimes, the case has moved slower than many hoped, unfolding under unprecedented scrutiny. | The prosecution benefited from detailed witness statements given by the victim before she died, and from her male companion, who came to court in a wheelchair to testify. But despite the establishment of special fast-track courts for sex crimes, the case has moved slower than many hoped, unfolding under unprecedented scrutiny. |
| One defendant, Ram Singh, who was driving the bus at times during the assault, hanged himself with his bedsheet in his Delhi prison cell this year as his cellmates looked on. His family said he had been subjected to sustained abuse while in custody, and at one point had been forced to drink urine. | One defendant, Ram Singh, who was driving the bus at times during the assault, hanged himself with his bedsheet in his Delhi prison cell this year as his cellmates looked on. His family said he had been subjected to sustained abuse while in custody, and at one point had been forced to drink urine. |
| A second defendant, who has not been named because he is a juvenile, was sentenced last month to three years in a juvenile detention center — the heaviest sentence possible in India’s juvenile justice system. | A second defendant, who has not been named because he is a juvenile, was sentenced last month to three years in a juvenile detention center — the heaviest sentence possible in India’s juvenile justice system. |
| The defense for the men has been patchy. Three of them said they were never on the bus, and Mr. Singh said he was driving and unaware of the crime. | The defense for the men has been patchy. Three of them said they were never on the bus, and Mr. Singh said he was driving and unaware of the crime. |
| Early in the process, one defense lawyer argued that the attack would not have taken place were it not for “the lust of the boy” who accompanied the victim to the movies, and recommended that it was her companion who should be hanged. | Early in the process, one defense lawyer argued that the attack would not have taken place were it not for “the lust of the boy” who accompanied the victim to the movies, and recommended that it was her companion who should be hanged. |
| Judge Yogesh Khanna, who issued a 240-page judgment on Tuesday, told the court, “I convict all the accused. They have been found guilty of gang rape, unnatural offenses, destruction of the evidence, and of committing the murder of the helpless victim.” | Judge Yogesh Khanna, who issued a 240-page judgment on Tuesday, told the court, “I convict all the accused. They have been found guilty of gang rape, unnatural offenses, destruction of the evidence, and of committing the murder of the helpless victim.” |
| Lawyers for all four men vowed to appeal the decision, and one of them said the trial was tainted by the extraordinary public interest in the case. | Lawyers for all four men vowed to appeal the decision, and one of them said the trial was tainted by the extraordinary public interest in the case. |
| “There was media pressure,” the lawyer, V. K. Anand, said. “There was public sentiment. This is a harassed judgment.” | “There was media pressure,” the lawyer, V. K. Anand, said. “There was public sentiment. This is a harassed judgment.” |
| And A. P. Singh, who represented three of the four men, called into doubt whether, after taking morphine, the victim was capable of giving an accurate witness statement. He also questioned whether she had in fact died of her injuries. “The victim was killed by a doctor,” he said. “It was a political murder, and this is a political decision.” | And A. P. Singh, who represented three of the four men, called into doubt whether, after taking morphine, the victim was capable of giving an accurate witness statement. He also questioned whether she had in fact died of her injuries. “The victim was killed by a doctor,” he said. “It was a political murder, and this is a political decision.” |
| Prosecutors had given a different picture. As testimony drew to an end, the special prosecutor in the case, Dayan Krishnan, said each of the six defendants was linked to the crime through DNA evidence. | Prosecutors had given a different picture. As testimony drew to an end, the special prosecutor in the case, Dayan Krishnan, said each of the six defendants was linked to the crime through DNA evidence. |
| Bite marks on the woman’s body contained material identifying Mr. Singh and Akshay Thakur, who worked as an assistant on the bus, Mr. Krishnan told the Press Trust of India. He said Vinay Sharma, who worked as a handyman at a gym, had left fingerprints on the bus, and phone calls made from the vehicle were traced to a fruit seller, Pawan Gupta. Another man, Mr. Singh’s younger brother, Mukesh, has admitted taking part, he said. | Bite marks on the woman’s body contained material identifying Mr. Singh and Akshay Thakur, who worked as an assistant on the bus, Mr. Krishnan told the Press Trust of India. He said Vinay Sharma, who worked as a handyman at a gym, had left fingerprints on the bus, and phone calls made from the vehicle were traced to a fruit seller, Pawan Gupta. Another man, Mr. Singh’s younger brother, Mukesh, has admitted taking part, he said. |
| In the cramped settlements that were home to the defendants, some neighbors said the case had cast a stain on all of them and expressed the hope that the men would receive the toughest punishment possible. Soon after Mr. Singh was arrested in December, an unknown attacker tried to detonate two crude bombs in front of his home. | In the cramped settlements that were home to the defendants, some neighbors said the case had cast a stain on all of them and expressed the hope that the men would receive the toughest punishment possible. Soon after Mr. Singh was arrested in December, an unknown attacker tried to detonate two crude bombs in front of his home. |
| But Ram Bai, a wraithlike woman who is mother to the Singh brothers, maintains that her surviving son is innocent, and has made it a point to attend the trial, if only to be near him for a few hours. “When I sat next to him in the courtroom, sometimes I just wanted to reach out and hold my son,” she said, sobbing. “All I can do is pray to God now. God will be the final judge.” | But Ram Bai, a wraithlike woman who is mother to the Singh brothers, maintains that her surviving son is innocent, and has made it a point to attend the trial, if only to be near him for a few hours. “When I sat next to him in the courtroom, sometimes I just wanted to reach out and hold my son,” she said, sobbing. “All I can do is pray to God now. God will be the final judge.” |
| The victim’s parents — who, like the defendants, had migrated to Delhi from their home villages in search of jobs — have called for the death penalty throughout the process. | The victim’s parents — who, like the defendants, had migrated to Delhi from their home villages in search of jobs — have called for the death penalty throughout the process. |
| “These monsters should be hanged,” her mother, Asha Devi, told a news channel as the family left for court on Tuesday morning. “When I saw her in the hospital later, she burst into tears and said, ‘Mummy, they beat me up very brutally.’ ” Her father, Badri Nath Singh, agreed. | “These monsters should be hanged,” her mother, Asha Devi, told a news channel as the family left for court on Tuesday morning. “When I saw her in the hospital later, she burst into tears and said, ‘Mummy, they beat me up very brutally.’ ” Her father, Badri Nath Singh, agreed. |
| “If they are not hanged,” he told the reporter, “it will be a shame for everyone.” | “If they are not hanged,” he told the reporter, “it will be a shame for everyone.” |