Courts cannot turn a blind eye to gruesome crimes against women which require exemplary punishment, a Delhi court has held while sentencing six people to up to 12 years in jail for gangraping a woman in a Gramin Sewa nearly four years ago.
The court observed that a young unmarried woman will not put her reputation in peril by alleging falsely about forcible sexual assault. “The increasing trend of crimes against women can be arrested only once society realises that any form of deviance against women would not be tolerated and more so in extreme cases of brutality such as the present one.
“Hence the criminal justice system must instill confidence in the minds of people, especially women, “Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain said in a 55-page order. “These are the times when gruesome crimes against women have become rampant and courts cannot turn a blind eye to the need to send a strong deterrent message to the perpetrators of such crimes. Such offences require exemplary punishment,” the court said.
It sentenced 12 years jail term to 31-year-old Vicky for the offences of gangrape, kidnapping and unnatural offences and sent five other convicts, including a Gramin Sewa driver, to 10 years in jail for gangraping the victim.
According to the prosecution, a complaint was lodged on May 19, 2012, that the woman was raped by six persons in a vehicle near Kalindi Kunj. The court said the role of a judge is to cull out true facts from the evidence led before him and “ensure that guilty does not go scotfree and innocent’s life and liberty is not jeopardised.” It relied on victim’s testimony and rejected contention of defence counsel that there were contradictions in her evidence .saying, “A person with so much trauma cannot be expected to remember every scene and depose in a parrot-like manner.”