Delhi earned 'rape capital' title after Dec 16, says HC

Delhi earned the title of "rape capital" after the horrific Dec 16, 2012 gang rape, the Delhi High Court said Thursday while confirming the death penalty of the four convicts.

Dismissing the appeal of the four convicts - Mukesh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma - challenging the Sep 13, 2013 trial court verdict sentencing them to death, a division bench of Justice Reva Khetrapal and Justice Pratibha Rani said the "crime was horrendous".

The court said the horrific details of the crime committed on the victim in a moving bus on the night of Dec 16, 2012 came into public domain and evoked a reaction from the public that was unprecedented.

"From common man to people in power, (they) had only one demand... justice for the victim who succumbed to the injuries suffered at the hands of the convicts due to their barbaric act. The crime was horrendous. Delhi earned the title of 'Rape Capital'," the court said.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was gang-raped by six men, including a juvenile, in a moving bus. The accused then threw her and her male companion out of the vehicle, stripped of clothing, to die by the roadside in the cold night.

The woman died of grave intestinal injuries Dec 29, 2012 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital where she was taken for specialised treatment.