Unhappy over the quantum of punishment to the three accused in the Park Street rape case, the woman’s family decided to appeal at the Calcutta High Court for an extended term.
A city sessions court on Saturday sentenced the accused to 10 years imprisonment.
The Anglo-Indian woman’s legal council Anirban Guha Thakurta said they will decide the next course of action once they receive the certified copy of the verdict.
Admitting that the victim’s family was not content with the punishment, he said: “We’re not satisfied at all. One can’t be guilty (merely) for 10 years.”
Under IPC Section 376 (2) (g), the accused could be given ten years minimum imprisonment and a maximum life term. Special public prosecutor in the case Sarbani Roy had pleaded before the court on Saturday that the three men should be awarded “minimum punishment” as they did not sexually molest the victim, which was greeted by widespread protest and her removal by the government from the panel of lawyers.
Despite expressing satisfaction at the outcome of the case, the victim’s father said they want more stringent punishments for the accused.
Not wanting to kick up a controversy, Guha Thakurta said: “Roy did an excellent job while representing the case in court for the last three years. Her line of argument is the reason the three accused were convicted.”
He further added: “Although we’ve no complaints against (the public prosecutor), we’ll challenge the quantum of punishment.”
The court found Sumit Bajaj, Ruman Khan and Nasir Khan guilty on December 11, instructing them to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh each, above and beyond the sentence.
The victim had named the three, along with prime accused Kader Khan and co-accused Muhammad Ali Khan for gang-raping her in a moving car.
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