Verdict in Kolkata gang-rape soon

More than three years after a 36-year-old woman was gang-raped by five men in a moving vehicle in central Kolkata, a city court is set to pronounced its verdict in the case.

While the victim passed away earlier this year, prime accused, Kader Khan and another accused, are still absconding.

They  are believed to have fled the country.

Sources said that while the chargesheet named Khan as an absconder, the other three accused in the case — Nasir Khan, Sumit Bajaj, and Nishat Alam — will be present in court on December 10, when the erdict is likely to be pronounced. Contradictory reports claim to have traced them to Bangladesh and Thailand.

 The trial was held in-camera for around two years at a city court, where the prosecution presented 45 witnesses.

The sensational case shot to national attention after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called it a “manufactured incident to malign her government”.

Banerjee drew further criticism after the administration reportedly shunted Damayanti Sen, the erstwhile Joint Commissioner (Crime) of the Kolkata Police, to a relatively insignificant posting after she managed to arrest three of the accused.

The crime took place on the night of February 6, 2012, less than a year after the Trinamool came to power.

The victim reported in her statement that she met the group of five at a popular nightclub on Park Street.