A COURT in India has sentenced five men to death for the gang rape and murder of a teenage girl, along with the killing of her father and three-year-old niece. The crimes occurred in January 2021 in the central state of Chhattisgarh.
The perpetrators, who offered the teenager and her family rides on their motorbikes while they were waiting for public transport, later attacked them.
The girl's father was killed as he tried to stop the assault, and her niece was also killed during the attack, public prosecutor Sunil Kumar Mishra told AFP.
The teenager, who was later found unconscious by villagers, died on her way to the hospital.
The court found five men guilty of the rape and triple murder, sentencing them to death. "They were condemned to death," Mishra said on Thursday, following the announcement of the court's verdict the previous day.
A sixth man was convicted for his involvement in the crimes but was not proven to have participated in the rape. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killings, Mishra added.
India permits the death penalty, although executions are rarely carried out.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about violence against women in the country. In 2022, an average of nearly 90 rapes per day were reported in India, but activists believe many more go unreported.
This week, a court in Kolkata sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a 31-year-old doctor in August last year. The crime, committed at a state-run hospital, sparked protests and anger nationwide.
The brutal nature of these incidents has drawn comparisons to the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder on a bus, which led to weeks of protests. Four men convicted in that case were executed in 2020.
Meanwhile, last week, authorities in Kerala arrested over 50 men for allegedly sexually abusing a teenager repeatedly over several years, with the survivor stating that around 60 men had targeted her.
(With inputs from AFP)
