6 sentenced to life term in student gang-rape case

Last Updated: 15th October 2012 08:56 AM Historical Judgement against the rapists! The goddess of justice in favour of the victim! the court upheld the respect for women and ensured their security! In a horrific incident, a 21-year-old student of National Law School of India University was allegedly raped by an eight-member gang on the Jnana Bharathi campus on Saturday night. According to a complaint filed by the victim, Masha (name changed) and her boyfriend Nikhil were going to her hostel in his car. They had stopped the vehicle near the university administrative building for some time around 9.30 pm when they were attacked by the gang, Masha told the police. The miscreants assaulted Nikhil and damaged his car, before dragging Masha to an isolated place where she was allegedly raped. Nikhil, an employee of IBM in the city, became friends with Masha through a social networking site two weeks ago. They had met on Saturday and had gone out for the first time, police said. In her complaint, Masha said the miscreants snatched her mobile phone and raped her. However, before fleeing from the spot, they thrust the phone in her hands. When Masha and Nikhil were looking for help, the night beat police noticed them and took them to the station. The police searched the campus for a couple of hours, but they could not find the miscreants. “We have registered a case of rape based on her complaint. Medical tests were conducted (on the victim) at Vani Vilas Hospital and we are awaiting the reports,” DCP The accused in the Jnana Bharathi gang rape case before they were produced in the court on Friday morning. - DNA A city court in Bangalore on Friday has sentenced six men to life term on charges for gang-raping an undergraduate student of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) on Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus, on October 13 last year. The convicted are Maddura, 20, Doddaheeraiah, 19, Shivanna, 20, Eeraiah alias Eera, 20, Yaliyaiah alias Kumara, 23 and Rama, 50. One accused, Raja, 24, is absconding. The eighth accused is a minor whose case is before the juvenile justice court. Justice Krishnamurthy B Sangannavar found the six persons guilty of all the charges levelled against them under abduction (Section 366 of the IPC), gang rape (376 -2G), dacoity (397) and assault (323 and 324). The convicts, residents of Mettari Doddi in Dasegowdana Doddi village on the outskirts of Bangalore, regularly trespassed into the university campus in search of sandalwood trees as well as firewood. On October 13, they were looking to poach sandalwood trees, when they came across the law student and her male friend in a car. They attacked the male friend of the girl and gang-raped her. The six men were arrested based on the description given by the rape survivor to the police. They reportedly confessed to the police that they had been involved in several crimes, including rapes. Police produced before the court clinching evidence of details of the calls made by the accused using the victim’s mobile phone. The absconding eighth accused in the gang rape of a law student in Bangalore University campus last year, was arrested Tuesday - six days after a fast track court sentenced six of his accomplices to life imprisonment. "Muthuraj alias Raja, 24, who hails from the neighbouring Ramanagar district and was absconding since the date of crime (Oct 10, 2012) has been arrested by the Jnana Bharati police today (Tuesday)," a senior police official told reporters here. Raja is also accused of being involved earlier in three other criminal cases, including attempt to murder and robbery. "The fast track court has remanded Raja to 14 days judicial custody after he was produced before the sessions' judge (K. Sangannavar) for interrogation and further investigation,"said Additional Commissioner of Police Kamal Pant. As the seventh accused is a minor, he is being tried separately in the juvenile justice court here. "The prosecution will seek stringent punishment to Raja as in the case of six convicts so that the sentence will deter others from indulging in such a heinous crime," Pant said. The 21-year-old victim, who hails from Nepal, was the third year student of the state-run National Law School of India University, which is adjacent to the Jnana Bharati campus, about 20km from the city centre. The six accused were convicted under section 376 (g) of the Indian Penal Code for gang-rape, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and other relevant sections of the IPC. According to public prosecutor Sanjya Kumar Bhatt, the court had also directed the victim to claim compensation for the physical scar and lasting mental scar from the criminal injuries board. "Justifying the maximum sentence, the judge said punishment should meet the seriousness and gravity of the crime, which involved not just the physical torture, but also the mental trauma of the victim that won't go away for long time," Bhatt said quoting from the judgement. The judge also took into account the pubic abhorrence of such heinous crimes in recent times across the country in deciding lifer for the convicted. The six convicts -- Rama and Yaliyaiah (both 23 years), Maddura, Shivanna and Erayya (all 20 years) and Doddaerayya (19 years) - are residents of Bangalore Rural and Ramnagara districts. The incident took place when the victim was on a walk in the sprawling green campus along with her male friend. Taking advantage of the secluded spot and darkness, the gang bashed up the friend and sexually assaulted the victim after taking her forcibly into the nearby bushes. Followed by the Judgement, The University has came up with new policy for the protection of women students in the campas. A student or official under Bangalore University, if found guilty of sexual harassment, could be expelled or suspended respectively, according to the university’s new policy to combat sexual offences. The university’s Syndicate approved the Sensitisation, Prevention and Redressal of Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination (SPARSH and GD) policy on Wednesday. The policy prescribes action within 30 days against any person who is found guilty. The policy, formulated by a Syndicate sub-committee headed by former member Zaheda Mulla, has been ratified 10 months after a law student was gang-raped in the Jnana Bharathi campus. The policy requires formation of statutory committees to address complaints at three levels - affiliated colleges, university and an apex committee. A College Complaints Committee (CCC) will be the complaints and redressal body in each affiliated college. The University Units Complaints Committee (UUCC) will cover clusters of BU departments and centres. The Apex Complaints Committee (ACC) will be a high appellate body of BU to evaluate complaints. As stated by K K Seethamma. Complaints can be registered in person, via email or post with the committees. Employees not covered by UUCC and CCC can approach the ACC directly, the policy document states. “Complainants have the right to go public if she/he so desires but one should preferably not go public till the enquiry process is completed unless required,” it adds. Based on the nature of violation, students will have to tender a written apology, face debarment from exams or denial of admission and expulsion. Even officials could have their increments or promotions cancelled or be suspended or dismissed. PG counselling The state government has increased seats for postgraduate courses in the following colleges: 10 seats for MA History and five for MA Economics in Yelahanka Government First Grade College, 15 seats for MCom in Seshadripuram Arts, Science and Commerce College and three seats for MCom in Acharya Institute of Management and Sciences. Counselling for these seats will be held on September 14 at the respective departments in the university. However it is better to take necessary actions before the occurrance of such heartrending event than to take steps, after the course of action.