Hanskhali gang rape case: Life imprisonment for three including TMC leader’s son; two released on bail bonds, four others get prison terms

Sohel Gayali, the main accused, is the son of local Trinamool Congress leader Samarendra Gayali. The court also sentenced Samarendra Gayali, Deepta Gayali and Piyushkanti Bhakta to five years’ imprisonment for intimidating the victim’s family and harbouring the accused.

Angshuman Bagchi was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for destruction of evidence.

The remaining two convicts, Surjit Roy and Akash Barui, were released on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 each. One of them was a minor at the time of the incident and was released accordingly. In the case of the other accused, the court ordered that he be kept under observation for one year, following which he may be released based on a satisfactory report from the probation officer.

On Monday, the court had convicted all nine accused for the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl.

The incident dates back to April 2022 at a birthday party in a village under Hanskhali police station. According to the prosecution, the girl was allegedly called to the party, intoxicated and sexually assaulted. The party was organised for Brojogopal Gayali alias Sohel Gayali.

Raju Banerjee, counsel for the accused, told mediapersons, “We see that the police began investigation on the 10th (of April 2022) and it was handed over to the CBI on the 13th, but during this period the names of Brojogopal or Prabhakar did not come up in any of the statements. Only the victim’s mother said that her daughter named Brojogopal. There were a total of 28 witnesses. The FIR was filed five days later and the statements given by the mother to the police and the CBI varied. There are huge lacunae, but we have to respect the court’s order. We are not satisfied with the order and will move the higher court.”

After the incident, the victim had fallen severely ill and was bleeding profusely. She managed to return home, where her condition worsened. It was alleged that the prime accused, his father and others intimidated the family and prevented them from taking the girl to a hospital or the police. The 14-year-old died the next morning due to excessive bleeding.

The prosecution further alleged that the victim’s body was secretly cremated at a nearby crematorium. A complaint was filed on April 9, 2022, following which Sohel Gayali was arrested within 24 hours.

Subsequently, the Calcutta High Court had ordered the investigation to be handed over to the CBI. A Division Bench comprising then Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj held that a CBI probe was necessary to ensure a fair investigation and to instil confidence in the victim’s family and the public.