Court awards life term to five for gangraping Danish woman

Five men were today sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for gangraping a 52-year- old Danish woman at knife-point near the New Delhi railway station two years ago.

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar awarded the jail term to convicts Mahender alias Ganja (25), Mohd Raja (25), Raju (23), Arjun (21) and Raju Chakka (30).

"For the offence of section 376 D IPC, all the convicts are sentenced to life imprisonment," the judge said while pronouncing the order.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 83,000 each on Raju and Raju Chakka, Rs 93,000 each on Mahender and Mohd Raja and Rs 1,03,000 on Arjun respectively.

The court has held these five men guilty for the offences under IPC sections 376 (D) (gang rape), 395 (dacoity), 366 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention).

Besides sentencing these convicts for the offence of gangrape, the court also awarded varying jail terms to them for other offences for which they were held guilty.

According to the police, the nine persons, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers' Club near the railway station.

The sixth accused, 56-year-old Shyam lal had died in February this year and proceedings against him were abated.

Three other accused in the case are juveniles and inquiry against them is in progress before the Juvenile Justice Board.

Before commencement of proceedings today, the convicts were taken out of the courtroom and were frisked by the police on the direction of the judge.

Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava had sought maximum punishment for the convicts ie. Imprisonment till the remainder of natural life, saying the crime was committed in a barbaric and inhuman manner.

legal aid counsel Dinesh Sharma, who represented the convicts, had sought leniency for them saying they belong to poor background.

The victim had come here on January 1, 2014, and stayed for a couple of days before leaving for Agra. After visiting several places, she returned to Delhi on January 13, 2014, and stayed in a hotel in Paharganj near the station.

The next day when she was returning to her hotel, she lost her way and had asked one of the accused for directions when the men waylaid and gangraped her.

During the trial, the accused had claimed innocence.