HC reserves order on Dec 16 gangrape case

New Delhi, Jan 3: The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its

on confirming the death

and appeals of four accused in Dec 16 gang-rape.

A division bench of Justice Reva Khetrapal, and Justice Pratibha Rani reserved the order after prosecution and defence counsels concluded their arguments.

The court also asked defence counsels to file their written submissions by Jan 15.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was gangraped, and brutally sexually assaulted by six men, including a juvenile, in a moving bus on Dec 16, 2012.

The accused then threw her and her male companion out of the vehicle, stripped of clothing, to die by the roadside on the cold December night.

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

One of the six accused was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar Jail. A juvenile involved in the crime was, on Aug 31, sent by the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three years, the maximum term under the juvenile law.

The trial court on Sep 13 awarded the death sentence to Mukesh, 26, Akshay Thakur, 28, Pawan Gupta, 19, and Vinay Sharma, 20.

The court referred the case to the high court for confirmation of the sentence.

The chargesheet was filed on Jan 3 last year.

IANS