Two men sentenced to life imprisonment until death for brutal gang-rape of minor in Surat

Ahmedabad: A special court for Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) in Surat on Monday sentenced two men to life imprisonment until death for the brutal gangrape of a 17-year-old girl during Navratri festivities in October last year.

The verdict was pronounced in a record 130 days of the incident. The police had filed chargesheet within 15 days of the incident which led to speedy trial of the suspects. The incident had occurred on October 8.

Following the pronouncement of the sentence, minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi posted on X, "Fast Justice Under New Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act: A New Era for India's Criminal Justice System. 3 rapists convicted and sentenced to punishment till their last breath under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act (BNSS), 2023, in just 130 days of the incident. Kudos to Surat Police and Special POCSO Court for ensuring swift and severe justice!"

Police had arrested three suspects-Munna Paswan, Ramsajivan Vishwakarma and Shivshankar Chaurasiya on charges of gangrape of the 17 years old girl. Chaurasiya died in police custody. The convicts are migrant labourers who hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Addition sessions judge Vinod V Parmar held that the gang rape was a premeditated "heinous" crime which have been proved by the evidence and testimony of the victim.

The court held that the victim who was at a secluded place with her friend was brutally gang-raped by the convicts who also shot viceos and photos of her. The court also ordered compensation of Rs10 lakh to the victim under Gujarat Victim Compensation Scheme 2019.