SC asks rape convicts to submit i-cloud password of their laptops

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered students convicted in the OP Jindal Global University gang rape case to share the i-cloud password of their laptops with the victim so that her pictures are not circulated over the internet.

Taking note of the fears expressed by the victim’s advocate, Colin Gonsalves, of the possibility of blackmail and threat to the life of the girl, Justice (full name) Bobde said the court found it difficult to accept and tolerate the continuing blackmail of the victim. “We are not concerned about the guilty. We are concerned about the present situation and that the pictures are not circulated. There are pictures of the girl with one of you and you should give the password to the victim,” said Justice Bobde.

Gonsalves had submitted to the court that there was an i-cloud account of one of the convicts where pictures of the girl were stored. “Despite questioning by the police and college and authorities, they have not shared the password,” he said. During the course of the hearing, the court remarked that there was danger for the young girl and we are trying to arrive at a solution. “After all, they are kids, grown up with moustaches,” Justice Bobde said.

In May last year, a trial court in Sonepat had convicted three former students of the OP Jindal Global university and sentenced the main accused Hardik Sikri and his friend Karan Chhabra to 20-year prison terms each for gang-raping and blackmailing a junior management student for about two years.

The third accused, Vikas Garg, was handed a seven-year jail term. On an appeal by the three, the high court suspended their sentences in September last year, released them on bail, and gave them liberty to move the court if they wanted to study abroad.

Following this, the victim approached the Supreme Court and said the HC had selectively placed reliance on a statement she gave to the court during the trial to pass comments on her character.