Bombay High Court upholds conviction of 20 rape accused
9 Feb 2013 8:44 AM IST
Observing that the law takes a stern view of crimes such as rape, the Bombay High Court upheld the conviction of 20 accused in the rape case of a 16-year-old school student who was allegedly drugged by her neighbour, sexually assaulted and forced into prostitution. ‘The law takes a stern view in crimes concerning rape not only for the reason of physical harm that it causes to a woman but also for the victim being left destitute to suffer lifelong mental trauma,’ Justices U D Salvi and A H Joshi said in their order on 4 February.
Sentencing them to a 10-year jail sentence, the court did not accept the accused’s version that they presumed the girl to be a sex worker and were not aware of her age. However, four of them were sent to jail for eight years because of their young age. One of the convicts, Chetan Bhalgat, who had raped her and forced her into prostitution by threatening that he would publish her nude photographs, married her in May 2011 after he was pronounced guilty by the Aurangabad sessions court.
Sentencing them to a 10-year jail sentence, the court did not accept the accused’s version that they presumed the girl to be a sex worker and were not aware of her age. However, four of them were sent to jail for eight years because of their young age. One of the convicts, Chetan Bhalgat, who had raped her and forced her into prostitution by threatening that he would publish her nude photographs, married her in May 2011 after he was pronounced guilty by the Aurangabad sessions court.
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