Mumbai: Life term for two, 20-year jail sentences for seven for gangrape of ragpicker

A sessions court on Wednesday awarded life terms to two persons and 20 years’ imprisonment to seven for assaulting and raping a ragpicker brutally in September 2013.

A sessions court on Wednesday awarded life terms to two persons and 20 years’ imprisonment to seven for assaulting and raping a ragpicker brutally in September 2013.

The accused forcibly took the survivor to a secluded place, beat her up and raped her.

The victim, then 38 years old, had come to Mumbai from Nandurbar looking for a job, and lived on the pavement while working as a ragpicker.

According to the police, prime accused Vishal Sood knew her. The accused forcibly took her to a secluded place, beat her up and raped her. They also violated her private parts with a stick, police said.

The police arrested Sood, Manprit Singh Gill, Ajay Gechand, Wahid Khan, Mahesh Maragche, Waseem Shaikh, Dastagir Khan, Bhuwan Hamal and Dheeraj Panchal alias Dheeru.

In the court, the victim stood by her statement and identified all the accused.

Accepting the prosecution’s case, the court handed down a life sentence to Sood and Wahid, and 20 years’ jail term to the seven others.