An Indian court sentenced four men convicted of gang raping then murdering a 23-year-old woman to death on Friday.
A judge ruled that the men shall be put to death to send a message that these violent crimes will not be tolerated, Reuters reports.
"This has shocked the collective conscience of society," Judge Yogesh Khanna said, condemning the men to death by hanging.
"In these times when crime against women is on the rise, courts cannot turn a blind eye towards such gruesome crime. There cannot be any tolerance ... This crime in every way falls within the rarest of rare category warranting a death sentence."
The victim was reportedly raped for an hour and tortured with an iron rod on a moving bus.
According to Reuters, cheers erupted outside of the Delhi court when the sentence was announced. The violent crime ignited protests and raised a national conversation about violence against women in India.
"I welcome the judgment," said Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Justice is given to Brave Heart. There cannot be any other punishment in this case."
Shinde added it was too early to comment about any appeals to the sentence or a presidential pardon.
"The four men, ages 19 to 35, were among six apprehended in the wake of an attack that hit a deep nerve in India," the LA Times reports. "A fifth reportedly committed suicide in prison, although his family claimed he was murdered. The sixth, a juvenile at the time, was given three years in a rehabilitation facility, the maximum punishment."
The LA Times reports state executions sentences are rare "under Supreme Court guidelines, and the vast majority of death penalty cases are commuted to life imprisonment."
According to Reuters, there are 477 people currently on death row in India.
