Six get life in prison for 2012 rape of Bangalore law student

Another accused,a 17-year-old,is facing trial in a Juvenile Justice court,while one,Raja,is still at large.

The eight persons attacked and raped the student,a foreigner,on Bangalore University campus,where she was with a friend in his car,on the night of October 12,2012. They also stole her and her friend’s mobile phones and an iPod and smashed window panes of their car. Then,the law caught up with them,all except Raja.

Their trial,except of the juvenile,began on June 28 and it was concluded in an unprecedented 13 days of hearing which lasted till August 2. The court examined 31 witnesses,79 documents and 74 pieces of evidence,including,crucially,the rapists’ DNA obtained from the vaginal swab of the woman and her handkerchief. The DNA from the swab matched with one of the suspect’s while the handkerchief of the victim provided DNA profiles of five other accused.

The judge considered arguments of public prosecutor Sanjayakumar Bhat and defence counsel T Shivappa on the quantum of sentence and concluded,citing several Supreme Court verdicts,that adequate sentencing was necessary in rape cases. He awarded all six life imprisonment for gang rape.

The judge also handed down sentences for charges under six other sections of the Indian Penal Code pressed against them. The sentences will run concurrently,life imprisonment being the maximum punishment. The court,however,gave the convicts time to appeal the verdict.

The court also directed the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board of Karnataka to adequately compensate the woman,who had stated that she had lost everything due to the atrocity committed on her .