India gang rape-murder convicts sentenced to death by hanging

NEW DELHI An Indian court sentenced to death Friday the four men convicted in the December gang rape and murder of a young New Delhi woman, ordering them to the gallows for a brutal attack on a moving bus that left the young woman with such severe internal injuries that she died two weeks later.

The death sentence, handed down Friday, must be confirmed by India's High Court. The men can appeal their case to the Supreme Court, and ask the president for clemency.

The victim's family, along with numerous politicians and government officials, had long called for the men to be executed. The case has been closely followed across India, seen as a reflection on rampant mistreatment of women and the government's inability to deal with crime.

The men, along with another suspect who hung himself in prison and a juvenile convicted in August, were riding through the city on an off-duty bus in December when they tricked the 23-year-old woman and a male friend into boarding.

They beat the friend into submission, held down the woman and repeatedly raped her. They also penetrated the woman repeatedly with an iron rod, causing severe internal injuries that led to her death two weeks later. As a rape victim, the woman cannot be identified under Indian law.