One of the men convicted in the fatal gang rape of a young Indian woman called out his innocence Wednesday as police drove him into the courthouse where he and three others faced the possibility of death sentences. Minutes later, the prosecutor called for all four men to be executed.
It was not clear which of the four men was shouting, because his face was obscured behind the police van's heavy metal mesh, but he repeatedly called out, "I am innocent! I am innocent!" as the van drove past a scrum of reporters.
The men face either life imprisonment or death by hanging. Calls for the men to be executed have grown increasingly loud, with everyone from the victim's parents to top political leaders demanding all four be hanged.
On Wednesday, as their sentencing hearing began, prosecutor Dayan Krishnan called for the death penalty, saying "there can be nothing more diabolic than a helpless girl put through torture."
The four men stood as arguments began, unshackled but with policemen holding them from both sides. The family of the victim watched from a few rows from the judge's bench, the father's eyes half-closed.