Surat: Two men accused of raping a 17-year-old college student near Mota Borsara village under Mangrol taluka of Surat district on the night of October 8 last year were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court here. In what could be termed a landmark in Indian judiciary, the judgement was pronounced within just 130 days.
The accused, Munna Paswan and Raju Vishwakarma were convicted by Judge VV Parmar of the special court based on the statements of the victim and her friend who was present with her at the time of the incident. A third accused, Shivshankar Chaurasia, nabbed on October 9, died in a Surat hospital where he was taken on October 10 after he complained of respiratory distress in police custody. The police conducted a thorough investigation in the case and filed a chargesheet in the court on October 24. Apart from the statement of the victim and her friend, scientific evidence was used by the prosecution in the case.
A team of more than 50 officers investigated the case and over 100 personnel were engaged to arrest the accused. This apart, the forensic science laboratory report and voice spectroscopy report were obtained in just 15 days. The public prosecutor had said that, after committing the crime, the accused had called their employer and informed him of of the crime. The employer however recorded the call and gave it to the police. The teenager had gone to a village to meet friends after attending her coaching class. She and her male friend were sitting in a deserted place on their way to a petrol pump along a highway when three persons approached them. While the girl's male friend escaped from the spot, the trio raped the minor before fleeing with her and her friend's mobile phones.
