Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir:
Four men have been given the death sentence for the abduction, gang-rape and brutal murder of a 13-year-old school girl in the Langate are of north Kashmir eight years ago.
The district and sessions court of Kupwara awarded the death sentence to local residents Sadiq Mir and Azhar Ahmad Mir, Mochi Jahangir of West Bengal and Suresh Kumar of Rajasthan, ruling that it was a "rarest of rare crime" and they did not deserve mercy.
In 2007, the class 8 student was abducted on her way back from school and was gang-raped. Her decapitated body was found in an orchard. Medical reports said her attackers had slit her throat after raping her.
The brutal attack had led to massive protests in Kashmir.
The four men were convicted last week, with the court finding them guilty of rape and murder. They had been in jail since August 2007.
The court recorded the statements of 86 witnesses in the case.
The state government has instituted a bravery award for children in the memory of the 13-year-old girl.