Life term for all 5 Dhaula Kuan rape convicts
New Delhi: A trial court on Monday sentenced all five convicts to life imprisonment in the 2010 Dhaula Kuan gangrape- cum- abduction case of a call centre employee hailing from the Northeast and also imposed a fine of 50,000 on them. Rape is a serious blow to the honour, dignity and womanhood of a victim, the court observed while showing no leniency.
Five men, convicted in the Dhaula Kuan gangrape of a BPO executive from the Northeast, were on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment.
The court also imposed a fine of ` 50,000 on Usman alias Kale, Shamshad alias Khutkan, Shahid alias Chhota Billi, Iqbal alias Bada Billi and Kamruddin alias Mobile, all residents of Mewat region in Haryana. They were sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence punishable under Section 376( 2)( g) of the IPC. They were further awarded seven years’ imprisonment for the offence punishable under Section 365/ 34 of the IPC and five years’ imprisonment for the offence punishable under Sections 506/ 34 of the IPC.
Additional sessions judge Virender Bhat called the convicts psychopaths and said they were married at the time of incident and had children, but also they had been wandering on the Delhi roads like beasts looking for a soft target to satisfy their lust. “They have no regard for the honour and dignity of the womenfolk in the society and thus are a threat to the whole society. It is the demand of justice that the accused should be kept away from the society as long as possible,” Mr Bhat said while announcing the sentence.
Rape, Mr Bhat said, shat- ters the dream of a woman in a violent manner, it is a serious blow to the honour, dignity and womanhood of a woman.
The judge noted that the crime committed by the five men from Mewat was intensely grave, serious and odious in nature.
The judge said he also took into account the ordeal of the victim, who had to leave her job in the city and was forced to earn her livelihood by running a petty shop at her native place in Mizoram.
“In the instant case, I was informed that the rape victim had to leave her job, where from she was earning handsomely, soon after the incident and shifted to her native place in the Northeast where she is making both ends meet by running a petty shop,” Mr Bhat said, adding that this amply indicates the impact of a rape incident on the victim.
The judge refused to show mercy on the plea of “poor family background” by the convicts.
“The family background of the convicts and their economics status, as canvassed by their respective counsels, does not persuade me to take any lenient view in favour of the accused. Their family background and economic status was not unknown to them at the time when they committed the crime. It was for them to keep their families and economic status in mind at that time and not to resort to any such criminal activity. Any liberal attitude shown towards the offenders would be counter- productive in the long run and against the societal interest,” the court noted in its order.
The convicts were visibly stunned and started sobbing in the court after Mr Bhat announced their sentences. One of them, Shahid, started trembling and asked for a chair after the judge left the dais.
Within minutes, he collapsed and policemen helped him to the dispensary for medical aid.