Four get life sentence for telephone operator’s rape

As per the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, the life sentence will continue up to the convict’s natural life. One juvenile delinquent involved in the case is facing charges separately and will be tried before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).

Two young women, a photojournalist and a telephone operator, were assaulted within less than a month of each other by two groups of five men each in the Shakti Mills compound. In each case, one of the accused was a juvenile.

The 23-year-old photojournalist was gangraped on August 22, 2013 by four adults and a juvenile, who first beat up and tied her male colleague with whom she had gone to the mill on a shooting assignment.

On August 31, the 19-year-old telephone operator went to the police to complain that she too had been gangraped in the same mill a month earlier on July 31.

Three of the accused — Jadhav, Qasim and Ansari — are also involved in the gangrape of the photojournalist along with another person Siraj Rehman. The court on Thursday found all four guilty in the photojournalist’s gangrape, too. The court, however, reserved the sentencing till Monday, after Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam moved an application seeking addition of section 376 (e) in the case.

As per the new amendments, whoever has been previously convicted of an offence, punishable under section 376 or section 376(a) or section 376(d) and is subsequently convicted of an offence punishable under any of the said sections, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with death. Nikam, however, did not specify if he would press for the death penalty in the photojournalist’s case.

The court, in a strongly worded judgement, observed Friday that the act was far from being termed as a “lenient crime”.

The accused were called to the dock and informed about the verdict. Each one said they had a family to fend for and prayed for mercy. Nikam pointed out that the victim was shattered, too. “She is still in the vegetative state. The medical officer has informed this court that the girl is still suffering with an acute post-traumatic stress. She has been scarred by these shameless men. Let us not be kind towards these unkind men,” he argued.