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India Sentences 3 To Hang For Multiple Rapes

Mohammad Qasim Shaikh (right) and another accused in a gang rape case are taken to a court session last month in Mumbai.
Divyakant Solanki
/
EPA/Landov
Mohammad Qasim Shaikh (right) and another accused in a gang rape case are taken to a court session last month in Mumbai.

A court in India has sentenced three convicted rapists to death by hanging under a new law that seeks to crack down on attacks on women in the country.

According to Al-Jazeera, "The men are the first to be tried and convicted under a recently revised law that carries the death penalty for those convicted of multiple sexual assaults."

The news agency says:

"The anti-rape law is aimed at repeat sexual offenders and puts in place a host of new provisions and punishments, including criminalizing stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.

"It stipulates the death penalty for repeat offenders and those whose victims are left in a vegetative state."

The three men who have been given the death penalty were convicted of raping a photojournalist in Mumbai last year, but the men were also among a group of five men convicted of gang raping another woman, according to the BBC.

As we reported in August, the assault on the photojournalist occurred as she and a male colleague were on a shoot of old buildings in south Mumbai.

In the past year, a number of incidents of sexual assault, including several gang rapes, have made headlines in India and around the world, highlighting what activists say has been a long-hidden problem.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.