Sri Lanka, Feb. 6 -- The Supreme Court has set a date for hearing the appeals filed by the defendants sentenced to death in the 2015 murder of schoolgirl Sivaloganathan Vithiya in Jaffna, which caused widespread outrage.

The appeals were taken up today before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Janak de Silva, and Sampath Abeykoon.

At the hearing, the State Counsel representing the Attorney General requested the court to schedule a date for hearing the appeals, presenting the relevant facts.

The three-judge bench ordered that the appeal petitions be heard on August 25.

A three-judge bench of the Jaffna High Court had sentenced seven defendants to death for the abduction, rape, and mur...