Three get life term until death in Chandigarh auto gangrape case
The DNA of all three accused had matched with that of the victim, confirming the crime.
A Chandigarh court on Friday awarded life imprisonment until death to the three men held guilty of gangraping a 22-year-old Dehradun woman on November 17 last year. The court also imposed a fine of ₹2.05 lakh each on the convicts, which will be paid as compensation to the victim.
Additional district and sessions judge Poonam R Joshi had held autorickshaw driver Mohammad Irfan and his accomplices Mohammad Garib and Kismat Ali guilty of gangrape earlier this week.
Charges were framed against them under Sections 376 D (gangrape) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The DNA of all three had matched with that of the victim, confirming the crime.
The victim, a native a Dehradun, stayed in a paying guest accommodation in Mohali and was returning home from her typing classes in Sector 37 on November 17, 2017, night. She boarded Irfan’s auto that already had two male passengers in it.
She alleged that the auto driver drove towards the forest area in Sector 42 claiming that he had to refuel his vehicle. He then drove the auto to a secluded area in Sector 53, where the three raped her.
The auto driver was arrested on November 24 and named the other two following which they were arrested the next day from Uttar Pradesh.
Pronouncing the sentence, the court held they didn’t deserve any leniency. “They sexually ravished the girl and left her in a pathetic state. A proper signal has to be sent out to the society. Even if in this case the accused are not reformed, others like them will be deterred,” said the judge.
Irfan is also accused of raping a 21-year-old call centre employee in December 2016.
‘Unfortunate mothers given birth to beasts’
“How unfortunate are mothers who gave birth to such beasts and kept them close to their bosom with the hope that they would be the saviours of their future. Little did they know that their sons would not only bring bad name to the family but to the society at large,” the judge said.