The Fourth Additional District and Sessions Judge B.K. Naik will on Saturday announce the quantum of punishment for two convicted for abusing a 15-year-old Odisha-based girl on a train coach here on July 14, 2010.
K. Ashok, an employee of a railway contractor and Nishit A, a mechanical helper in the Southern Railway, were found guilty of gang raping the girl in a coach of a Goa-bound train in Mangalore Central Railway Station. The court on Tuesday convicted the duo under Section 376 (2) (g) of the Indian Penal Code.
During the hearing on the quantum of punishment on Thursday, Narayan Poojary, advocate for one of the convicts, argued for commuting the sentence saying Ashok was the sole bread-winner of the family consisting of his aged parents and a younger sister, who was of marriageable age. Public Prosecutor Manjunath V. Bhat Panne said as per the amendment made to Section 376, the minimum punishment for the offence under Section 376(2)(g) was rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years. The punishment can be extended till life imprisonment and the court can also impose fine.
Relying on a recent judgement of a division bench of the Supreme Court, the prosecutor said giving inadequate punishment would amount to injustice to victim. Punishment should be such that it serves as a deterrent and prevents incidents of assault on women. Convicted persons do not deserve mercy, Mr. Panne submitted.
Background
The victim escaped from a house in Kadri where she was working and came to the railway station on the fateful day in the morning. The girl was found in semi conscious state in the coach by a woman sweeper, who shifted her to the women’s waiting room in the Railway Station. The girl later told Child Help Line counsellors that she had been sexually abused, which led the police to register the case. The Government Railway Police arrested three persons. The prime accused, Shamsheesh, a porter and sweeper hailing from Payyanur in Kerala, is reported to be at large. The Sessions Court on Tuesday acquitted Abdul Sattar Ayub, a vendor on the railway platform, for lack of evidence.
