Prosecution call for death penalty in Delhi gang rape

NEW DELHI - Prosecution in the trial of the horrific gang rape case in the Indian capital last December has demanded death sentence to all four rapists convicted by a fast track court in New Delhi, said local media Wednesday.

"All four men convicted of the rape and murder of a 23-year old trainee physiotherapist on a New Delhi bus should face the death penalty," Public prosecutor Dayan Krishna was quoted as saying on Wednesday in court in a live blog posted by the Times of India online.

Convicted rapists deserve "nothing short of death", prosecutor told the judge, according to the blog being broadcast alive online during the on-going hearing of the case.

Earlier, one of the convicts shouted, "I am innocent, I am innocent" while being taken to the court, while the victim's father said that he hopes that the rapists are handed a death sentence.

"I remember her (the victim's) last wish was that these men should be burned to death. I am sure that she is satisfied now wherever she is," he was quoted as saying.  

While convicting the four adult suspects of gang rape and murder on Tuesday, the court said the rapists committed an unforgivable crime by cold-bloodedly trying to kill their victim by using a deadly tool - a rod - which caused internal injuries which could not be healed.

The conviction was mainly based on the dying declarations of the victim, a 23-year-old medical student, who died two weeks after the gang rape in a Singapore hospital, as well as DNA tests.

Local observers expect the court to deliver death sentence to the four rapists on Wednesday, after convicting them of all 13 charges against them on Tuesday, including gang rape, murder and destruction of evidence.