Dhaula Kuan gang-rape: Court turns down request for leniency to convicts

“They are a threat to society; must be kept away as long as possible, ” said Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat.

October 21, 2014 11:48 am | Updated November 17, 2021 04:57 am IST - NEW DELHI:

NEW DELHI, 20/10/2014:(To go with Akanksha's story): Family of 5 lifers in the 2010 Dhaula kuan gang rape case, out side the Dwarka district court in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar.

NEW DELHI, 20/10/2014:(To go with Akanksha's story): Family of 5 lifers in the 2010 Dhaula kuan gang rape case, out side the Dwarka district court in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar.

Beasts and psychopaths. These are some of the adjectives used by the fast-track court to express its indignation for the five convicts who it sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the 2010 Dhaula Kuan gang-rape case.

Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat was filled with indignation for the crime and expressed the same when he went on to write in his order: “The fact that the convicts abducted the prosecutrix (victim) in a jiffy...demonstrates that the convicts were on the prowl, looking for a prey to satiate their sexual lust.”

“It appears that the convicts were wandering upon Delhi roads like beasts looking for their target of attack,” he said.

“It has come on record that all the convicts were married, having children and still they were roaming on the roads in Delhi in search of a soft target to satisfy their sexual lust. This manifests that the convicts are psychopaths having no regard for the honour and dignity of the womenfolk and thus are a threat to the society. It is the demand of justice that they should be kept away from the society as long as possible,” he said.

Maximum punishment As the court went on to award maximum punishment provided in the statute book for the offence of gang-rape, it clearly mentioned that it was not persuaded to be lenient.

“The family background of the convicts and their economic status as canvassed by their counsel, does not persuade me to take any lenient view in favour of the convicts. 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 in mind and not to resort to any such criminal activity,” ASJ Bhat said.

He said imposing meagre sentence or taking a sympathetic view merely on family background would be counterproductive in the long run and against social interest.

The judge said the crime committed by them is “intensely grave, serious and odious in nature. Rape is the most hated crime. It not only affects the physique and psychology of the victim but impacts the society. The rape victim has to live with the scar and the incident shatters her life and dreams in a violent manner. Her marriage prospects diminish to a large extent and she finds it unable to engage in routine job...”

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