E-Paper
Life term for 4 in 2021 gang rape of minor in Bengal; tattoos became evidence
The court ordered the state to pay a compensation of ₹4 lakh to the survivor who will also get the fine amount of ₹8 lakh collected from the convicts
Kolkata: Four men found guilty of raping a minor girl in October 2021 in Bengal’s Murshidabad district and spreading a video of the crime on social media were sentenced to imprisonment till the end of their natural life by a district court on Wednesday, Bibhas Chatterjee, the public prosecutor in the trial, said.
Dipta Ghosh, the judge at Lalbag sub-divisional court in Murshidabad, also slapped a fine of ₹2 lakh each on the convicts Basudeb Mondal, Mithun Das, Akash Mondal and Arun Mondal.
The men were convicted under various sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. The trial ended in 120 days.
“The court ordered the state to pay a compensation of ₹4 lakh to the gang rape victim and said she will also get the fine amount of ₹8 lakh collected from the convicts,” Chatterjee said.
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The punishment was pronounced two days before the commencement of Durga puja, Bengal’s biggest festival. The crime, too, was committed two days before the festival in 2021.
“The salient feature of this case is the digital evidence against the guilty. They shot a video of the crime and threatened the girl that they would share it on social media if she spoke to anyone about the incident. They made the video public although the girl had kept quiet out of fear,” Chatterjee said.
“Copies of the video were sent to state forensic science laboratories in Pune, Assam and Kolkata. Examination of the video showed that two of the rapists had tattoos on their arms. The tattoos seen on the video matched with the ones found on the suspects after their arrest. Voice samples collected from the video were also matched. The case has shown how crucial electronic evidence can be,” Chatterjee added.
