A court in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Saturday sentenced all the 13 accused for 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in the gang-rape of a 20-year-old woman on the directions of a kangaroo court. The woman was tried before the kangaroo court for having relationship with a man from another community.
The gang-rape at Subalpur village in Birbhum district had resulted in outrage in the State and other parts of the country.
“ >On Friday the Court of the Additional District Judge had found all the 13 guilty of charges under sections 376 D (gang rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code,” Mohd. Shamshul Zoha, public prosecutor told The Hindu over telephone from Bolpur. The Court has imposed a fine of Rs. 5,000 on each of the accused, Mr. Zoha added.
The minimum punishment for Section 376 (D) dealing with gang rape is 20 years and maximum is life-term.
The 13 convicts include the village headman Balai Maddi who had pronounced the punishment for the victim. While 12 accused are tribals one is a non-tribal.
During the trial one accused had claimed that he was a minor but it was rejected by the court.
