Four get life term for Kannur gang-rape

A Kannur district sessions court on Monday sentenced four men to life imprisonment for the gang-rape of a minor from West Bengal three years ago.

The main accused in the case – Mohammed Sharif, Mohammed Sali, P G Biju and N I Jamsheer – were also directed to pay Rs 1 lakh each as compensation to the victim. They had been pronounced guilty on Saturday.

The prosecution case pertains to the gang-rape of the minor girl, native of the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, on the night of December 23, 2011.

She had gone to Virajpet in the Kodagu district of Karnataka along with two relatives, in search of her missing friend who was a migrant labourer.

The girl and her relatives were waiting for a bus to head back to Iritty in Kannur when they were offered a drop in a mini-lorry by the first three accused.

After they took up the offer, the fourth accused in the case joined the gang. The men took the girl to an isolated stretch in Vayathur and gang-raped her after overpowering her relatives.

The traumatised victim, who was rescued by a group of local residents, later underwent treatment at the Kannur District Hospital.