5 persons convicted by court

Arguments on quantum of sentence on June 9

A fast- track court here on Monday convicted five persons, who along with four others, had been accused of abduction and gangrape of a 52- year- old Danish woman in the national capital in 2014.

Additional sessions judge Ramesh Kumar held Mahendra alias Ganja ( 27), Mohd Raja ( 23), Raju ( 24), Arjun ( 22) and Raju Chakka ( 23) guilty of offences punishable under Sections 376 ( D) ( gangrape), 395 ( dacoity), 366 ( kidnapping), 342 ( wrongful confinement), 506 ( criminal intimidation) and 34 ( common intention) of IPC.

The court said the prosecution had successfully proved its case against the accused. The judge has now fixed June 9 for hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence.

Shyam Lal ( 55), one of the accused in the case, recently died in the jail and the proceedings against him were abated. Three other accused in the case are juveniles and the inquiry against them is in progress before the Juvenile Justice Board.

During the course of trial, the prosecution examined 27 witnesses in support of its case as the convicts did not leave any evidence.

During the hearing, the court was informed that the defence counsel had challenged its previous order, dismissing a plea seeking to examine some doctors as witnesses on the potency issue of the sixth accused, Shyam Lal who died in February this year. The court, however, said nowhere in the application it was mentioned that the proceedings of this court had been stayed by the Delhi high court.

“Hence, this court is not barred from passing the order,” the judge said.

Later in the day, the Delhi high court dismissed the petition of the accused after it was informed that the trial court had convicted the accused. Dinesh Sharma, the counsel of the accused, said his plea was dismissed only because the trial court pronounced its order.

According to the prosecution, the five convicts, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife- point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers’ Club near the New Delhi Railway Station.