An Indian court sentenced four men to death Friday for the rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi , an attack that appalled the South Asian nation . Announcing the sentence , Judge Yogesh Khanna said the crime `` shocked the collective conscience '' of India and fell into the `` rarest of rare category '' that deserves capital punishment . `` In these times when crimes against women are on the rise , the court can not turn a blind eye to this gruesome act , '' he said . One of the convicted men , Vinay Sharma , broke down in tears and cried loudly as the judge spoke . Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty for the men , citing the `` extreme brutality '' of the attack , which took place on a moving bus in December . They had also argued the court needed to send a message to Indian society with its judgment . Opinion : Where have India 's females gone ? Anger about the deadly assault has had a widespread impact in India . It set off demonstrations , started a debate about women 's treatment in Indian society and prompted the introduction of tougher punishments for sexual abuse . `` We are very happy . Justice has been delivered , '' said the father of the victim , whose name was withheld under Indian law . Calls for the men to be executed had come from the victim 's family members , high-profile politicians and many other Indians . The announcement of the sentence was met with cheering from hundreds of protesters outside the court . Posters and banners held by those in the crowd read `` hang the rapists '' and `` a woman 's life is the foundation , do not defile it . '' Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said his initial reaction was that `` justice was given to that girl and family . '' Defense attorneys had urged the judge to show leniency and sentence the men to life in prison , saying the death penalty should be the exception , not the rule . As the judge announced the death sentence , defense lawyer A.P . Singh shouted , `` This is not the victory of truth . But it is the defeat of justice . '' A shocking attack . The brutality of the New Delhi attack , as described by police and prosecutors , helped stir the strong emotions surrounding the case . On the evening of December 16 , the victim , a 23-year-old physiotherapy student , had gone to see the movie `` The Life of Pi '' with a male friend at a New Delhi mall . During their journey home , they boarded a bus at a major intersection in upmarket South Delhi . The driver and at least five other men on the bus were drunk and looking for a `` joy ride , '' police said . The men , from a poverty-ridden slum on the outskirts of Delhi , dragged the woman to the back of the bus and beat up her male friend . Police said the men took turns raping the woman , using an iron rod to violate her as the bus drove around the city for almost an hour . When they had finished , they dumped the two victims by the side of the road . The woman 's injuries were so severe that some internal organs had to be removed . She died two weeks later at a hospital in Singapore . Four found guilty . After a trial that lasted about seven months , the Delhi court Tuesday convicted four of the men -- ages 19 to 28 -- of murder , rape and kidnapping . The victim 's parents had tears in their eyes as the judge read the verdict in which he said the men had been found guilty of `` committing the murder of a helpless victim . '' Her brother wiped a tear from his cheek . The four men -- Sharma , Akshay Thakur , Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh -- will appeal the verdict , their attorneys said . Opinion : Victims blamed in India 's rape culture . Human rights groups criticized the decision to impose capital punishment . `` The rape and murder of the young woman in Delhi last year was a horrific crime , and our deepest sympathy goes out to the victim 's family . Those responsible must be punished , but the death penalty is never the answer , '' said Tara Rao , director of Amnesty International India . `` Sending these four men to the gallows will accomplish nothing except short-term revenge . '' Rao said there is `` no evidence that the death penalty is a particular deterrent to crime , and its use will not eradicate violence against women in India . '' Death sentences issued by Indian courts have rarely been carried out in the past decade . No state executions took place between 2004 and late 2012 , when the last surviving gunman from the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai was hanged . But human rights advocates have said they fear India 's stance on executions has changed . `` In the past year , India has made a full-scale retreat from its previous principled rejection of the death penalty , '' Meenakshi Ganguly , South Asia director at Human Rights Watch , said last month . Two others accused . The fate of two others accused in the case had been determined before this week . One man , Ram Singh , 35 , was found dead in his jail cell in March . Authorities said he had hanged himself , but his family said he had been murdered . A juvenile court convicted a teenage boy on August 31 for his part in the gang rape , sentencing him to three years in a special juvenile correctional facility . His trial was in juvenile court because he was 17 at the time of the crime , and the sentence is the maximum allowed under the court 's rules . Many Indians , including the victim 's family , expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence . The same crowd outside the courthouse that cheered Friday 's death sentence for the four adults turned their ire on the juvenile . The crowd chanted , `` Hang the juvenile . '' A lawyer for the victim 's family said they would go to India 's top court to contest the youth 's sentence . A rape every 22 minutes . As in many countries , rape is a grimly frequent occurrence in India . According to Indian government statistics , a woman is raped every 22 minutes on average . But the New Delhi attack seized the country 's attention . Advocates criticized the world 's largest democracy for failing to protect half of its population . Protesters demanded better treatment of women and decried the apathy of police and the judicial system . Men respond to rape crisis . The government passed tougher anti-rape laws , introducing the death penalty for repeat offenders , and imprisonment for acid attacks , human trafficking and stalking . But some Indians said that while the laws on crimes against women have changed , mindsets and enforcement have been slower to adjust . 'Take it to the source ' Government figures show the number of women reporting rapes has risen significantly since the New Delhi attack and the heavy scrutiny that followed it . Observers said it indicates women who are victims of sexual attacks feel more emboldened to come forward than they did before . Meet India 's Red Brigade : Teens fighting back against rape . Prosecution of such crimes has improved , said Kiran Bedi , a human rights activist and former Indian police officer . But it will take a heavy emphasis on the family and school environments to resolve the problem in the long run , Bedi said . `` You ca n't just begin and end with the police and the prosecution and the courts , '' she said . `` You have to go backward and take it to the source . '' India grapples with rape and sexual violence .
`` Justice has been delivered , '' the victim 's father says . People outside the court cheer and clap after the sentencing . The judge says the attack `` shocked the collective conscience '' of India . A court found the men guilty of gang raping a woman on a bus ; she later died .