28 Jan 2009
CHANDIGARH: Five people have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a German girl in September 2008.
Chandigarh police had filed for a fast trial in the case.
On Tuesday, additional district and sessions judge Raj Shekhar Attri said, "The charges have been proved beyond doubt. All accused are hereby convicted for gangrape, abduction and forgery.'' With these words the judge created a history of sorts as he decided the German rape case on only the eighth day of trial.
The court convicted five accused — Manveer Singh alias Jolly, Sukhminder Singh alias Sukhi, Harpreet Singh, Pankaj and Sompal — for gangrape, kidnapping, inducing a woman and forgery.
It was not a fast-track court, but Judge Attri heard the trial every day. The prosecution examined nine witnesses and the defence seven. Special public prosecutor Manu Kakkar cited 18 previous judgments to prove his point.
The 20-year-old victim, accompanied by her father, had deposed before the court on January 16 wherein she stated that she was forcibly taken from a five-star hotel and raped at a farmhouse in September 2008. The victim, a German citizen, said at the time of registration of FIR, she made repeated attempts to explain to the police, doctors and magistrate that she was raped, but owing to her poor English, they didn't get it right.
The woman, who suffered several injuries, was medically examined and the other evidence submitted to CFSL before the accused were arrested. The defence had pleaded that she had accompanied the accused on her own. The court, however, framed charges of gangrape against the five men in December 2008.
Special prosecutor Manu Kakkar said, "Our main plea was that the woman came to India for the first time and she would not falsely implicate anyone. Owing to hard work put in by the presiding officer, investigating officer and court staff this case has winded up so early.''
No comments:
Post a Comment