NEW DELHI: Less than nine months after the December 16 brutal gangrape incident, a fast track Delhi court has held all the five accused, including a man who died during the trial, guilty of rape and cold blooded murder of a “defenseless” 23-year-old girl that can fetch them death.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna, delivering the 237-page judgment for convicts Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur, said, “The facts of the case make all accused liable for the cold blooded murder of the defenseless prosecutrix and thus the offence under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC stands proved and the accused persons are thus convicted,” the judge said.
“… all the accused in pursuance of the conspiracy committed gangrape with the prosecutrix and thus are convicted under section 376(2) (g) (gangrape) of the IPC with the aide of section 120B IPC,” the court said.
Rejecting the defense argument that the girl had died due to delayed medical aid and infection caught in the hospital during treatment, judge Khanna observed that “the important aspect of this trial is the manner in which both rods and hands were used for damaging the alimentary canal and pulling it out from the body (of the girl).
“This act of complete destruction of the most vital parts of the body can never be termed as intending to cause bodily injuries and rather it will be act done with intention of causing death.”
The judge said they had conspired to gangrape her and the crime had been committed in a “premeditated manner”.
“The accused are also liable for gangrape committed with the prosecutrix in pursuance to their conspiracy,” the court said.
The judge also convicted them for kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confining a person, abducting to subject a person to grievous hurt and slavery, abducting woman to cause her defilement, voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery and dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity of the IPC.
As soon as the verdict was delivered, Pawan broke down while Vinay was in a state of shock.
Mukesh was heard saying “that they would have to face the consequences for what they have done”. The fourth convict Akshay seemed unaffected.
“All the accused have been convicted for various offences including attempt to kill the complainant (victim’s male friend), for gangrape with the victim and also for unnatural sex with her and killing the victim…
“The accused have also tried to destroy the evidence after the incident, so they are convicted under section 201 of the IPC. They had abducted the victim to have illicit intercourse with her, so they are convicted under section 366 of the IPC,” the judge said while pronouncing the judgment.
The murder charge, for which the four men have been convicted, entails a maximum of death penalty and life term as the minimum punishment.
While pronouncing the verdict, the judge said, even though the proceedings against accused Ram Singh (34), who was found dead in his prison cell after he committed suicide on March 11, were abated, “he is also convicted under same sections (gangrape, murder and other offences)”.
On the night of December 16, last year, Ram Singh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and the juvenile had gangraped the girl in a bus after luring her and her 28-year-old male friend, who was also assaulted, on board the vehicle, which was later found to be plying illegally on Delhi roads.
The victim’s friend, a software engineer, had fractured his limbs in the incident. The girl succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 in a Singapore hospital.
The court relied on the dying declaration of the victim, forensic evidence, including finger prints, dental models, DNA samples and other medical reports of the convicts, electronic evidence and the statements given by them to the police after their arrests.
The judge also said that the presence of the convicts in the bus in which the crime was committed has been established through the location of their mobile networks.
Before pronouncing the judgment, the judge thanked the Delhi Police, the prosecution team and the defense counsel for bringing the case to its conclusion.
After pronouncement of judgment, the girl’s family members, who were present in the court, said, “The day they (convicts) will be awarded death penalty, justice will said to be done.”
Defense lawyer A P Singh alleged the verdict has been delivered under pressure and the four men will now be punished for the offences which they have not committed.
Advocate V K Anand, who appeared for Mukesh, said he will appeal against this conviction in the superior courts as he was only driving the bus. Mukesh’s mother was seen crying in the court while the other family members refused to speak. -PTI
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