Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in India Gang Rape Case

Four convicted for raping, killing woman

NEW DELHI — Prosecutors on Wednesday asked for the death sentence for four men convicted of participating in the rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in December, calling the crime "a case of extreme depravity" and arguing that the public would be outraged if the men were not hanged.

"The common man will lose faith in the judiciary if the harshest punishment is not given," Dayan Krishnan, a special prosecutor, told the judge in the case, who is expected to deliver the sentences — either the death penalty or life in prison — for each man on Friday. But A.P. Singh, a defense lawyer, called execution "a primitive and coldblooded and simplistic response to complex issues."