BENGALURU, Feb. 10 -- The Karnataka high court has upheld the death sentence awarded to three men convicted for the gang rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, holding that the crime was "barbaric and inhuman," and that it fell within the "rarest of rare category".

In its order on February 6, a bench of justices HP Sandesh and Venkatesh Naik T said the crime was a "diabolical" act that shocked the collective conscience of society and crimes such as this must be curbed with "iron hands."

The high court confirmed the death sentence imposed by a designated court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) cases in Mangaluru and said that imposing a lesser sentence would send a wrong message to society and the public at large...