All the three men convicted in the February 2012 Park Street gangrape case were sentenced to ten-years of rigorous imprisonment by a city sessions court on Friday.
In addition, a fine payable to the kin of the victim who passed away early this year, was also slapped, prosecution lawyers said.
Pronouncing the quantum of punishment Additional Sessions Judge Chiranjib Bhattacharya imposed a fine of `1 lakh each payable by the three accused Ruman Khan, Sumit Bajaj and Naser Khan. If they default in payment they will have to spend another six months in jail.
Notwithstanding the punishment, what seemed to surprise the legal fraternity and the victim’s family was the way the public prosecutor did not press for maximum punishment for the accused.
Reacting to the final verdict, the sister of the victim said she was “satisfied that the accused have been convicted but not happy with the quantum of punishment.”
On Friday senior advocate and former Kolkata Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya said the prosecution’s request seeking minimum punishment should be inquired into while former Supreme Court judge Ashok Ganguli called it “unprecedented,” wondering “how the prosecution could speak in favour of the accused. Is it a normal practice for them to speak in favour of the accused,” he asked.
The lawyers of the accused said they would appeal before the High Court. The accused were convicted under Section 376(2)(g) of IPC that entailed a punishment of 10 years to life imprisonment.
In its142-page order, the court disregarded certain discrepancies that included cellphone location of the accused that suggested they were not around the place of occurrence, but relied upon the statement of the victim under Section 164 and her witness during cross-examination in the court.
Special PP Sarbani Roy, however. would not comment on why the court was urged upon by the prosecution to consider “lesser punishment” and not life imprisonment.
A mother of two children the middle aged victim was given a lift late at night on February 6, outside a Park Street pub, beaten up and raped inside a moving car at gun point before being thrown out on a sidewalk near Rabindra Sadan.
The incident created a nationwide uproar when insult was added to injury by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who rejected the incident as a concocted story by the Opposition even before the police could start investigation.
Some TMC senior leaders including a woman MP dismissed the incident as a “matter between a woman and her clients.” Senior IPS officer Damayanti Sen who handled the case was transferred out of Kolkata to a place in North Bengal.
The three accused were arrested in 2012 while two others including the prime accused Kader Khan were still at large.
On Friday senior advocate and former Kolkata Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya said the prosecution’s request seeking minimum punishment should be inquired into while former Supreme Court judge Ashok Ganguli called it “unprecedented,” wondering “how the prosecution could speak in favour of the accused. Is it a normal practice for them to speak in favour of the accusedIJ”