7 get life term for gang rape of Bangladeshi woman in Bengaluru
A senior Bengaluru police officer said seven of the accused in the gang rape case of a Bangladeshi woman were given life imprisonment, one woman was slapped with a 20-year jail term and one man was given a five-year imprisonment. The other two women accused were handed a jail term of nine months.
A special court in Bengaluru on Friday convicted 11 people in the case of gang rape of a 22-year-old Bangladeshi woman in the city on May 27 last year. The accused, including three women, were given punishments ranging from nine months in jail to life imprisonment.
Twelve people were originally arrested in the case; but one of them turned into an approver for the investigators.
A senior city police officer said seven of the accused in the case were given life imprisonment, one woman was slapped with a 20-year jail term and one man was given a five-year imprisonment. The other two women accused were handed a jail term of nine months.
The police submitted the charge sheet in the case within 27 days and secured a conviction within 90 days after the FIR was registered. Twelve people were arrested on June 8 last year in connection with the gang rape and torture of a Bangladeshi woman. Out of the 12 accused, 11 are Bangladeshi nationals and two are women.
Shobuj Sheik and Rafiq alias Rafsan are the main accused. Their associates Ridoy Babu, Rakibul Islam Sagar, Mohammed Babu Shaik, Hakil, Ajim, Jamal, Dalim, Nasrath, Kajal and Tanya are the other suspects as per the charge sheet.
A disturbing video of the woman’s assault was circulated on social media in which the accused even inserted a bottle in her private parts. The incident was flagged by Assam Police first in May 2020 and later redirected to the Bengaluru police after they received information about a possible suspect in the city.“We formed our teams to follow these leads and were able to detain one of them and based on the information provided we arrested the rest of the accused,” said a senior officer who supervised the case.
The Bangladesh Police helped identify one of the suspects -- Ridoy Babu of Tejgaon in Dhaka -- based on his TikTok account and the video circulating online. “The cops tracked down his (Babu’s) family and made his uncle call him on WhatsApp. On the call, Ridoy admitted that he was one of those seen in the video. He (Babu) also identified the victim. This was what we have been told (by Bangladesh police),” the officer said.
According to the officer, 44 witnesses were examined by the judge. “The investigation was taken up on war footing using all scientific aid at disposal such as DNA analysis, electronic evidence, mobile forensics, fingerprint evidence, voice sampling etc,” the officer added.
The Karnataka government appointed Veeranna Tigadi to conduct the prosecution and a special trial monitoring team headed by an ACP rank officer was constituted. This was done to monitor the trial process ensuring no delays are caused, the officer added.
The rape survivor was allegedly trafficked from Bangladesh by a network of human traffickers active in her country, Assam, West Bengal, Telangana and Karnataka, three years ago, police said. She was then forced into prostitution by the gang, they added.