Cab driver Purshottam Borate (30) and his friend Pradeep Kokade (24), who were found guilty in the rape and murder of a BPO employee in Pune, were sentenced to death by a city court Tuesday.

The court of principal district and sessions judge Anant Badar termed the crime as "premeditated" and "heinous."

Twenty two-year-old Jyotikumari Chaudhary, who worked at a call center the city, was raped and killed on Nov.1 2007. Her body was found at Wadgaon in the outskirts of the city a day later.

According to police investigation report, Jyotikumari was picked up by the driver and his associate on November 1 at 10 pm. They used the ploy of picking up another employee and took the girl to a nearby village and committed the crime.

Pleading the convicts be sentenced to death, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that the accused had committed the crime in a brutal manner. He said Jyotikumari got three injuries on her body with a sharp weapon and brutally strangled her to death.