Three get death in Bengal gang-rape case

A city court on Saturday sentenced three persons to death and three others to life imprisonment for the gang-rape and murder of a 21-year-old girl in June 2013.

While all the six men, convicted of their crimes on January 28, are planning an appeal before the Calcutta High Court, the victim’s family also plans to knock on the higher court’s doors against the acquittal of the two other accused.

The court sentenced Saiful Ali, Ansar Ali and Amin Ali to death for gang-rape and murder and gave life term to Imanul Islam, Aminur Islam and Bhola Naskar for gang-rape, criminal conspiracy and causing disappearance of evidence.

While Rafiqul Islam and Nur Ali were acquitted on Thursday due to lack of evidence, another accused, Gopal Naskar, died in August 2015 during the course of the trial.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Sanchita Sarkar, who found the six men guilty on Thursday, announced the quantum of punishment after hours of deliberations by defence lawyers on Friday and first half of Saturday.

Judge Sarkar, who was to announce the sentence on Friday, took another day to go through the submissions of Ansar’s lawyer, who argued that his client should get a life term and not a death sentence.

The victim’s younger brother said after announcement of sentence that he will go to Calcutta High Court, appealing for further action against Rafiqul and Nur.

“I’m happy but I’ll go to a higher court and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the acquittal of two accused,” he said.

The public prosecutor said that one of the convicts described in graphic detail how they tortured the victim for which they deserved capital punishment.

The 21-year-old girl from Kamduni in North 24 Parganas was dragged into an abandoned farmhouse on June 7, 2013, while she was returning home from college and gang-raped.

The men later tore her legs all the way up to her navel and left the body in a field. The case triggered widespread outrage, particularly after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed demonstrators outside the victim’s house had Maoist links, when they raised anti-government slogans during her visit to meet the family.