An Indian court has sentenced four men to death for the gang rape and murder of a student in the capital Delhi, a case which led to violent protests across India and new laws against rape, BBC reports.

Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta were found guilty on all counts earlier this week.

Judge Yogesh Khanna said the case fell in the “rarest of rare category,” rejecting pleas for a lighter sentence.

The woman, 23, was attacked on a bus in December and died two weeks later.

On Friday, Judge Khanna said the attack “shocked the collective conscience” of India, and that “courts cannot turn a blind eye” to such crimes.

“This case definitely falls in the rarest of rare categories and warrants the exemplary punishment of death,” he added.

The men were convicted to death by hanging, and one of them, Vinay Sharma, broke down in tears as the verdict was announced.

The father of the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the family was satisfied with the ruling.

“We are very happy. Justice has been delivered,” he said in the courtroom, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Earlier, protesters outside the court had demanded that the four men should be hanged.

As they were escorted to the courtroom, the four men shouted to the crowd: “Brothers, save us!”



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