A sessions court in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district sentenced three men to death on Wednesday for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village in 2016, PTI reported. The court had convicted the three men of the crime on November 18.

Additional Special Judge Suvarna Kevale had found the three accused – Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume – guilty of rape, murder and criminal conspiracy under some provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

In July 2016, massive protests broke out in Maharashtra after the three men raped and murdered the girl belonging to the Maratha community. The convicts also inflicted injuries all over her body and broke her limbs before killing her, police said.

During the protests, the Maratha community demanded death sentence for the accused.