Delhi Case Follow-up thread

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 01 Sep 2013 17:48

Assault without rape means no genetic proof? - hence just allegations and counter allegations. If an impersonator is involved how would one differentiate? Plus periodic misuse ie during times of Hindu festival or at outcome of Delhi rape and murder case. Proof should be the most sought after here for clear evidence otherwise this can become blame game and politics of abuse.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 04 Sep 2013 14:14

Shakti Mills gang-rape accused assaulted 10 women in 6 months

MUMBAI: The Shakti Mills gang-rape accused had targeted at least 10 women in the same spot over the past five-six months, said police officials investigating the case. Earlier, they were believed to have raped four women.

Also, with another gang-rape survivor coming out, it is clear the gang that preyed on women in the mill was not limited to five members. She has spoken about two others, one of whom has been taken into custody. A hunt is on for the other. "We believe many survivors may not be coming out because of the fear of the gang members on the loose," said a crime branch officer.

"Each of them (the accused in custody) gave different dates and descriptions of rape survivors. After collating the information, we have roughly concluded that they raped 10 women,'' said an officer of the investigating team.

During initial probe, the accused had said they had first molested a girl after a couple entered the mill looking for privacy. A few weeks later, they gang-raped a ragpicker and, lastly, a month before attacking the photojournalist, they had brought a sex worker to the mill, raped her and did not pay.

Now, it has emerged that six more women were targeted. The rape accused have said most of them were residents of nearby slums who used to take the tracks to reach their homes.

Salim Ansari, 27, who it seems was involved in all the assaults, has said that they made their first attack in March when they saw a woman walking by the tracks late in the evening. "The group, posing as policemen, threatened her and forced her inside mill where they raped her. Within a few days, they targeted another woman crossing the tracks. With these two assaults going unreported, they were emboldened. They often lurked in the mills in the evenings and lay traps for unsuspecting women," added the officer.

Police said the modus operandi was almost the same - whoever spotted a potential target would pose as a policeman/CID officer and under the pretext of inquiry take them deeper into the ruined mill. On the side, they would have alerted their other friends. If a man was accompanying their target, they would thrash him and tie him up.

They also seemed to have made it a habit to click their target's photo or the rape to threaten them to keep quiet.

Another similarity that stands out is that they never robbed their targets. They did not touch the expensive gadgets the photojournalist who was attacked on August 22 was carrying. Police said the accused have said that they knew that they could be tracked easily if they stole cellphones or tablets.

Storyboard

*An 18-and-a-half-year-old girl went with her 21-year-old boyfriend to Mahalaxmi on July 31 as he wanted to show her his workplace. They later went for a while to the isolated Shakti Mills

*As they were coming out, they were spotted by Qasim Bangali and Salim Ansari, who questioned them, posing as cops. Sensing trouble, the youth asked the girl to run while he fought the two

* Vijay Jadhav, his juvenile nephew and an accomplice Ashfaque Shaikh, who were nearby, overpowered the youth, tied him up and raped the girl

* Immediately after the incident, the girl and her boyfriend took a train for Chattisgarh, where they later got married

*Her parents filed a missing complaint on August 1 with Bhandup police station

*The couple returned on August 1 to city after which the Bhandup police asked her to visit police station and cancel their missing complaint. When she went to police station, she filed a complaint saying that she was raped at same place and strongly suspect the same set of accused raped her.

*Bhandup police files FIR giving it zero number and transfers the case to N M Joshi Marg where the mill is situated.

The modus operandi and the chilling parallel with the earlier-reported case

The interrogations of each accused have led police to believe that the accused had a particular modus operandi. The accused would sit (lay a trap) at Shakti mill, wait for a pray (victim crossing railway tracks, couples looking for privacy or women ragpickers). In case of ragpickers they would tell her to go inside as there is lot of scrap and for couples looking for privacy, they would initially behave as if they don't care but once they couple is inside, they would threatened the boy, tie him and rape.

What the court could depend on in cases like this

*The Supreme Court has held that the statement of a survivor is a strong piece of evidence to nail an accused

* Even if corroborative evidence in the form of DNA tests or other forensic test results are unavailable, the veracity and reliability of a survivor's statement, if proved in court along with identification of the accused, would be adequate to secure a conviction, previous judgments have held

Sentencing

* Criminal procedure laws under section 219 of Criminal Procedure Code read/with section 223 CrPC allows for a single trial in certain cases. It says: All accused can be tried during the course of one trial, if the same offence is committed within a space of 12 months by the same accused

* But legal experts say a joint trial is not advisable

* The maximum punishment for rape is life imprisonment, the minimum is seven years' rigorous imprisonment

Charges imposed in this case

* The accused have been booked under sections of the IPC from 34 (common intention), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 376 (D) (gang rape under the amendment to the CrPC with a minimum punishment of 20 years) and 506 (II) (criminal intimidation)

The accused

Vijay Jadhav (19)

He lives with a friend at the latter's tenement at Ramji Barucha Marg, behind Dhobighat at Agripada. Jadhav would spend most of his time at the Shakti mill compound. His family, comprising his parents, two brothers and two sisters, lived in a rented apartment at Jai Ambe Park at Virar(E). He was arrested in 2011 in a house-breaking case by NM Joshi Marg police Jadhav, a resident of Dhobighat was arrested by Agripada police in 2012. Like Juvenile accused Jadhav too sneaked into Railway jurisdiction behind Shakti Mills and stole few heavy metal pieces and nut bolts kept for repairing railway tracks. The Agripada police arrested him and booked him under IPC 380

Mohammed Qasim alias Bangali (19)

He has four theft cases against him, two of them at Agripada and Byculla police stations as a minor. The chargesheets have been filed in the cases and they are pending for trial. One of them pertains to stealing metal pieces from Railway premises after tying up two railway employees with belts. Police said Qasim used the same modus operandi in the gangrape cases

Salim Ansari (24)

He lives with his wife and children in Chembur and did odd jobs. He hails from Uttar Pradesh and fled to Delhi on hearing he was wanted by cops in the gangrape of a photojournalist at Shakti Mills. He was the first to spot the photojournalist and her male colleague as they entered the mill and had then called in the other accused

The other two

Vijay Jadhav's nephew (17 years, 10 months)

He was arrested by police on Tuesday. A nephew of Jadhav, an accused in the other Shakti Mill gangrape case, the juvenile lives in Agripada. Police say he will turn 18 in November. There are several cases of theft registered against him at Tardeo, Agripada and NM Joshi Marg police stations. Interestingly, it was he who had first pointed out the home of the juvenile accused in the Shakti Mill gangrape case, to the police

Akhtar Babu alias Ashfaque (20)

A resident of Dhobi Ghat, he would hang out with the other accused at Shakti Mills, joining them in drug abuse. His name had initially cropped up in the Shakti Mill gangrape case. At the time of going to the press, he was learnt to have been detained by the police

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 04 Sep 2013 15:49

Hoodlums copying Aamir, SRK, Big B methods on wooing women..Aaja medi gaadi mein bhaith, Chalti Kya Khandala: Woman captures pic of bikers harassing her in Mumbai:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... iver-malad

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 04 Sep 2013 19:51

And we have governments imposing dress codes for students. Of all the things we could do to curb harassment/violence against women, these numbskulls do this.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 05 Sep 2013 14:54

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 130905.htm

As the country awaits justice for the horrific gang rape and murder of the Delhi Braveheart, Swarupa Dutt meets the lawyers of the accused. They either blame the girl, or her friend, or both. One of the lawyers who was associated with the case even claims there was no rape, and that the girl is alive.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Sep 2013 19:24

There is a pattern in the Delhi, Mumbai gang rape cases.
Essentially a gang of malcontnets think they can get away with rape of young isolated couples who are trying to seek their own place in the modern society.
These gangs see isolated couples and prey upon the woman after incapacitating the man. These are gang rapes of opportunity.

There is a need for societal attitudes to change.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 06 Sep 2013 02:13

‘Juvenile’ child rapist and killer threatens victim’s sister after release

http://m.timesofindia.com/city/delhi/Ju ... 298472.cms

NEW DELHI: "I have been acquitted," says Vishal (all names changed), standing in front of his single-storey, modest house in north Delhi's Rohini area. A few hundred metres away lives a family whose six-year-old daughter was brutally raped and cut to pieces by him. The family lives in constant terror because Vishal, earlier this year, allegedly threatened to do the same to their younger daughter. A trial court had sentenced Vishal to death for the 2007 rape and murder. However, the high court held him to be a juvenile at the time of the crime. Since he had already spent five years in prison, Vishal walked free. Now, Delhi Police says it plans to cite Vishal's case before the Supreme Court to push for reforms in the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act). Last amended more than a decade ago, the JJ Act makes no distinction on the nature of crime for those under 18 and allows for a maximum of three-year term in a reform home. Vishal was spared death despite conviction thanks to the act, though he had brutally raped and murdered his minor victim in the neighborhood, chopped her body and threw the parts in two public toilets. A trial court handed him the death holding his age to be 20 years. But, relying on a bone ossification test — which put his age between 17-20 years at the time of the crime — and statements by his sisters, Delhi high court declared him a "juvenile in conflict with law". It's a decision whose repercussions are still playing out in the area, because Vishal was released from prison after the HC verdict.
Family can't believe law let the killer roam free
When TOI visited the dirty, crowded neighbourhood, Vishal's demeanor varied from calmness to suspicion. He suddenly turned hostile and stopped talking during the short late-morning interaction. Living just a stone's throw away from his house, the family of the victim expressed shock that their daughter's killer is free even though he had been awarded the death penalty. Worse, he is back in their neighborhood. The terrorized family had complained to the local police in January this year, which lodged a case of criminal intimidation and criminal trespass against Vishal. However, he was released soon after on bail. Since then, locals say, the victim's parents remain tense over the safety of their younger daughter.

When TOI visited their house, it learned just how fragile their existence was. Nagender, the girl's father, is battling acute TB in a government hospital and his wife, Kaveri, spends most of her time tending to him. A relative, Manoj, takes care of the minor girl when she is home. But, he too has to often step out for long periods for work. "Our family just can't digest the fact that the killer is living right in our midst and the police and judiciary can't do anything about it," says Manoj, pointing to the direction of Vishal's house. At Vishal's house, another layer of reality emerges. "Baree ho kar aaye hain (I've come out after being acquitted)" he says, when asked about his jail term. His elder sister and brother-in-law agree, oblivious of the legal nuances that granted him freedom. "My wife loves her brother madly. She sold off a nearby plot to fund the lawyer's fee while fighting the case in court," says Arun, who does odd painting jobs for a living.
When TOI asked Arun why Vishal and his sister were getting ready to leave for Haridwar, he opened up a little. "Ever since he returned from jail, Vishal behaves weirdly. He is always scared he will be taken back to prison. Recently, he disappeared for months and we had to file a missing report with the cops.
"We learnt that he had injured himself while he was with kawarias in Haridwar. So we lodged a missing report in Haridwar too after searching for him. We found him in a disheveled state and brought him home. But Haridwar Police wants to verify his identity before they close the case," Arun explained.
Both husband and wife insists Vishal suffers from mental illness and is on medication. He even tried to commit suicide, they say. His sister, between sobs, kept stressing that he was innocent. They remain unaware that a special leave petition is being prepared at the highest levels of the Delhi Police. Sources say the SLP will not only challenge the Delhi high court's decision favoring Vishal in November last year, it is also expected to urge the apex court to settle questions of law. The SLP stems from the stand taken earlier this year by the prosecutor in the Richa Kapoor case. She argued that the appeal must urge the apex court to clarify if in heinous crimes, courts can also weigh the conduct of a juvenile accused and brutality of the crime, and not just go by medical evidence "which is not conclusive and varies according to region, diet, race etc and hence isn't conclusive proof."Relying on the prosecutor's note, the SLP is likely to argue that Vishal is certainly no innocent minor lawbreaker. "To conclusively hold that ... the accused had not attained the age of discretion so as to understand the consequences of his heinous act, is not free from ambiguity or doubt," the note said.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Sep 2013 18:29

Bangalore Gang Rape: Six Convicts Get Life Term - New Indian express

A fast-track court here Friday sentenced six people to life imprisonment after convicting them for the gang rape of a law student in the Bangalore University campus last October.

Pronouncing the sentence, Civil and Sessions Judge (V) Sangannavar said all the convicts would have to spend all their life in prison till their natural death.
{This need not be explicitly stated because the SC has time and again clarified that life sentence meant life sentence for the entirety of life. But, states generally release them after 14 years or on some special occasions of birth-days of political leaders.}
The sentence includes a fine of Rs.1,000 on each convict.

Though eight people were involved in the gruesome incident, the seventh accused (Raja) has been absconding since then, while the eighth is being tried separately in the juvenile justice court as he was a minor when the crime was committed.

According to public prosecutor Sanjya Kumar Bhatt, the court had directed the victim to claim compensation for the physical scar and lasting mental scar from the criminal injuries board {Whatever amount is awarded, and that amount better be quite big, it must be borne by the criminals}

"Justifying the maximum sentence, the judge said punishment should meet the seriousness and gravity of the crime, which involved not just the physical torture, but also the mental trauma of the victim that won't go away for long time," Bhatt said quoting from the judgement.

The judge also took into account the pubic abhorrence of such heinous crimes in recent times across the country in deciding the life sentence for those convicted.

The six convicts -- Rama and Yaliyaiah (both 23 years), Maddura, Shivanna and Erayya (all 20 years) and Doddaerayya (19 years) - are residents of Bangalore Rural and Ramnagara districts.

The incident took place Oct 13, 2012 when the victim was out on a walk in the sprawling green campus along with her male friend.

Taking advantage of the secluded spot and darkness, the gang bashed up the friend and sexually assaulted the victim after taking her forcibly into the nearby bushes.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Sep 2013 19:00

Jodhpur Police Receives Fresh Complaints Against Asaram - The Hindu

Jodhpur Police has said it has received fresh complaints against Asaram Bapu even as it dispatched teams to the Ahmedabad ashram of the self-styled godman to collect evidence in the sexual assault case against him.

Many victims have started coming forward with their complaints against Asaram, police said without disclosing the nature of the complaint or the identity of the alleged victims.

They have also offered to help the police in its investigation.

Police, however, denied reports that it is in possession of any CD or video clippings given by Asaram’s aide Shiva.

“We have not received any such CD or video clipping so far showing bapu or any of his activity. We have obtained some evidences out of interrogation of Shiva and are in the process of its verification,” DCP Ajay Pal Lamba said.

Police teams have been sent to Asaram’s ashram in Ahmedabad to collect evidence in the case.

Mr. Lamba said that the case is under investigation and they are yet to interrogate Shilpi, the warden at the Chhindwara Gurukul where the girl was a student and an important link in this case, as she allegedly sent the girl to Asaram. {This is intriguing considering it is a month now since the issue came to light}

“She is on our radar and we will arrest her at an appropriate time,” he said adding Asaram’s driver and cook will also be interrogated.

Police will also cross examine Shiva and Shilpi and if needed.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 07 Sep 2013 17:54

HOWRAH/KOLKATA: Two teenage girls and their DJ friend were chased for 19km on NH6 by six men on bikes, molested and battered with beer bottles, fists and kicks around 11pm on Thursday.

The girls, who are budding DJs themselves, are in trauma. "I shudder to think what the rowdies would have done to us if some passersby hadn't stopped to help. We could have been raped, murdered and God knows what else!" one of them said. The other girl has a broken nose after being punched by the assailants.

The lone accused to be arrested—23-year-old tailor Rahim Mollah—told police that he and his friends were "celebrating" his purchase of a new bike.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... mesofindia

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Sep 2013 18:03

harbans wrote:
HOWRAH/KOLKATA: Two teenage girls and their DJ friend were chased for 19km on NH6 by six men on bikes, molested and battered with beer bottles, fists and kicks around 11pm on Thursday.

Really shameful for this country. What has happened to us ? I hope these thugs are given 25 years RI with no parole and with a hefty fine to boot that makes them go bankrupt.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 07 Sep 2013 20:25

ramana wrote:There is a need for societal attitudes to change.

Ramana,

Glad to see you pointing this out.
In a traditional society rape is infrequent because women tend to be locked up, no access.
In a modern society we depend on women to hold up half the economic system.
As such they have to be free to come and go without fear and to report attacks without fear.
Freeing up women actually makes them more vulnerable to attack.
But it needs to be done if we are to growth strong and powerful.

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 07 Sep 2013 20:39

The laws need to be stricter, punishment much harsher, and trial/judgement swifter so that the prospective criminals would think twice before committing any crime.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 10 Sep 2013 12:14

All four have been found guilty.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 10 Sep 2013 17:28

Delhi gang-rape case: All four accused convicted, sentencing tomorrow

NEW DELHI: A special Delhi court on Tuesday found four men guilty of gang-raping and murdering a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus here in December last year, a case that evoked nationwide outrage and led the government to bring in stringent anti-rape laws.

The court would hear arguments on the quantum of sentence on Wednesday.

Besides gang rape and murder, the court held Mukesh (26), Vinay Sharma (20), Pawan Gupta (19) and Akshay Singh Thakur (28) guilty of attempt to murder, unnatural offences, dacoity, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, kidnapping or abducting in order to murder, while acquitting them of the charge of murder in dacoity.

Additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna, presiding the special fast track court, also convicted them for kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confining a person, abducting to subject a person to grievous hurt and slavery, abducting woman to cause her defilement, voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery and dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity of the IPC.

As soon as the verdict was delivered, Pawan broke down while Vinay stood in a state of shock.

Mukesh was heard saying, "that they would have to face the consequences for what they have done". The fourth convict Akshay seemed unaffected..

"All the accused have been convicted for various offences including attempt to kill the complainant (victim's male friend), for gang rape with the victim and also for unnatural sex with her and killing the victim...

"The accused have also tried to destroy the evidence after the incident, so they are convicted under section 201 of the IPC. They had abducted the victim to have illicit intercourse with her, so they are convicted under section 366 of the IPC," the judge said while pronouncing the judgement.

The murder charge, for which the four men have been convicted, entails a maximum of death penalty and life term as the minimum punishment.

While pronouncing the verdict, the judge said, even though the proceedings against accused Ram Singh (34), who was found dead in his prison cell after he committed suicide on March 11, were abated, "he is also convicted under same sections (gang rape, murder and other offences)".

On the night of December 16, last year, Ram Singh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and the juvenile had gang-raped the girl in a bus after luring her and her 28-year-old male friend, who was also assaulted, on board the vehicle, which was later found to be plying illegally on Delhi roads.

The victim's friend, a software engineer, had fractured his limbs in the incident. The girl succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital.

The court relied on the dying declaration of the victim, forensic evidence, including finger prints, dental models, DNA samples and other medical reports of the convicts, electronic evidence and the statements given by them to the police after their arrests.

The judge also said that the presence of the convicts in the bus in which the crime was committed has been established through the location of their mobile networks.

Before pronouncing the over 230-page judgement, the judge thanked the Delhi Police, the prosecution team and the defence counsel for bringing the case to its conclusion.

After pronouncement of judgement, the girl's family members, who were present in the court, said, "The day they (convicts) will be awarded death penalty, justice will said to be done."

Defence lawyer A P Singh alleged the verdict has been delivered under pressure and the four men will now be punished for the offences which they have not committed.

Advocate VK Anand, who appeared for Mukesh, said he will appeal against this conviction in the superior courts as he was only driving the bus.

Mukesh's mother was seen crying in the court while the other family members refused to speak.

Tuesday's decision comes ten days after the juvenile accomplice in the case was sentenced to three-year term at a detention centre after being held guilty by the Juvenile Justice Board of gangrape and murder of the paramedic and robbing a carpenter before the incident.

The trial in the robbery case against the four is on in another court.
Before the judgement was to be delivered, police did not allow several media people to enter the courtroom which led to heated arguments.

Extra police force had to be called in as journalists argued with police personnel to secure entry in the room, which had to be cordoned off in the wake of commotion.

As per the Delhi high court's March 22 order, only one person each from national dailies and news agencies was permitted in the courtroom after checking their credentials and scribes from electronic media were not allowed to enter.

Outside the court complex, around 40 youths had gathered claiming to be from '16 December Kranti', a Facebook-based group, demanding death penalty for all the four convicts.

The court had reserved its judgement on September 3 after the prosecution and the accused concluded their arguments.

During the trial, Mukesh had admitted his presence in the bus, while Vinay, Akshay and Pawan had denied the charges levelled against them.

The case led to formation of fast track courts for trying sexual offences two weeks after the incident.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 10 Sep 2013 18:52

Statement of Jyoti Singh Pandey as appeared in Headlines Today

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delh ... 09175.html

Her cries for help went unheeded as the six people, including a juvenile, tortured her for an hour, took turns to rape her, bit her, hit her with an iron rod, shoved it inside her and even used hands to tear her inner organs out, the Delhi gangrape victim said in her last testimony.

In her four-page statement in Hindi to the magistrate five days after the barbaric attack on her, the 23-year-old paramedical trainee, who was admitted to a city hospital in a critical condition, pleaded with the authorities to "burn them alive.

The statement, which is available with IANS and forms part of the 1,000-page chargesheet submitted by the police to the court, clearly states how the young woman was brutally tortured for an hour in a moving bus and how she fainted a couple of times, but was beaten back to consciousness to undergo more unspeakable indignities.

The chargesheet also has a handwritten statement of the victim, which has barely 20 words scribbled by her in her semi-conscious state. It was written on December 25. The girl mentions the rod used against her in the note.

"I was returning after watching 'Life of Pi' from Select City mall in Saket. We took an auto from there and reached Munirka. Here we saw a white coloured bus. The conductor of the bus was announcing that the bus was going to Palam and Dwarka. As I had to go to that side, my friend and I boarded the bus. We gave Rs.20 as ticket."

"When I entered the bus, I saw six to seven people sitting. I thought they are all passengers. I sat in the front seat. The bus had yellow curtains and red seats. The windows were closed and had tinted glass panes. I could see from inside, but no one could see from outside.

"After settling in, I looked again at my co-passengers and got little suspicious. But by that time I had already paid the money and the bus had started."

"Five minutes after boarding the bus, the conductor closed the bus gates and switched off the lights. One of the persons then came to my friend and started abusing him."

"While three-four held him, the rest dragged me to the back seat of the bus. They tore off my clothes and then took turns to rape me. They hit me with the rod and bit me."

"Before this, they had snatched the wallet and mobile of my friend."

"Six of them raped me by turns. While one of them shoved the rod inside, another one used his hand to tear my organs out."

"The torture continued for one hour in the moving bus. They took turns driving the bus and raping me."

"From their appearance they looked like drivers and their helpers. I was losing consciousness, but they hit me repeatedly to wake me up."

"My friend tried to save me. But he was also badly beaten up with the rod. He also lost consciousness. They then stripped us and believing that we are dead, threw us out of the moving bus."

"We were both without clothes on the street. A passer-by called the police."

"They should be hanged so that such an incident does not happen with another woman. They should be burned alive," the young woman, who died on December 29 at a hospital in Singapore where she was flown by the government after a national outcry and massive protests, said in the statement.

The answer was to the magistrate's question on what punishments the accused deserved from the court.

And they should be , indeed, hanged. Pronto.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 11 Sep 2013 00:13

Does our society thinks Rape to be a horrible crime perpetrated by the Man or does it still blame the woman for the rape ?
That is the question we all Indians need to answer. I still see people blaming the victim for the rape or worse construe victims unsaid agreement to the sexual relations and blame the guy later.

member_22872 · Post by **member_22872** » 11 Sep 2013 00:25

May be public castration through electrocution followed by death by hanging is more appropriate. I am sure there are many more in the society who would do the same...let the punishment send a shiver down the spines of such people and deter them from even thinking of eve teasing.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 11 Sep 2013 01:34

I am not at all happy about that 'juvenile' Mohammed Afroze being left free after 3 years. He is now adult and the least is his name and atta patta be known to all. I am unhapphy that the mechanisms could not devise a simple >16 if you do murder/ rape, then Adult punishment due. This is a simple 1 liner amendment, and they could not achieve this. He was let off. I am angry. I think they will punish these 4 heavily. But Afroze will walk out and again savage another.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 11 Sep 2013 02:12

VikasRaina wrote:Does our society thinks Rape to be a horrible crime perpetrated by the Man or does it still blame the woman for the rape ?
That is the question we all Indians need to answer. I still see people blaming the victim for the rape or worse construe victims unsaid agreement to the sexual relations and blame the guy later.

Victim blaming is alive and thriving sadly.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 11 Sep 2013 02:28

Need to watch the sentence. Most of the Penal Code was violated.
Important thing is the sentence has to recognize the heinous nature of the gang rape and punish it accordingly.

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 11 Sep 2013 03:10

^^^ Torturing the perps in jail is out. It is not acceptable however heinous their crimes. It appears that, that is what the police did.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 11 Sep 2013 12:29

12:39 Live! Delhi gang rape: Convict Pawan Gupta's lawyer says he's 19, can be reformed: TV reports say that inside the Saket Court, as the quantum of punishment is being argued, all the four convicts are tense. Convict Pawan Gupta's lawyer argues that he is just 19 and there is a possibility of reform. The other lawyers argue that murderers aren't born but made, and can be unmade.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 11 Sep 2013 12:33

in any other civilized country , these guys would have been hanged by now

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 11 Sep 2013 12:57

some of the statement from defence lawyers makes me so angry

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 11 Sep 2013 19:34

Guys, Afroze is learning guitar, specialty cooking, has Kheer, Paneer, Chole Bathure and more, has a room with a cooler, cable TV channels of his choice. Anyone need a Cook? He'll be out in a few months..

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 11 Sep 2013 21:12

All the four will get Death sentence ( if not I will be disappointed and so will be others, but Judge life would be guilt ridden) with few life sentences and term of imprisonment (RI)of varying degree from 3 year to 10 years.. Will have to see if they run consecutively or concurrently. May get RI without remission or parole.

High Court will have to confirm death sentences for each. And then there will be appeal in HC and then SC and then mercy petition. Hopefully all this plays out quickly so that Pranab da can dispatch these people.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 11 Sep 2013 21:24

Agree, otherwise khodaa pahaad niklaa chuhaa. Anything less than total war on rape is not going to work well. The question of Afroz the juvenile who could get away with rape is bad enough.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 11 Sep 2013 21:44

..and SC or President will commute the death sentence in 2025 when petition reaches them.
Haven't they been doing it in past few years (Remember Mrs. patil).

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 11 Sep 2013 21:44

According to some of our judges the victims 'virginity' is a valid test for whether she 'asked' for it. All countries have lengthy appeals for murder convictions. I'd be happy with life without parole if I could be certain there is indeed no random parole. That way we don't waste anymore money debating these lowlifes.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Sep 2013 18:55

I dont understand the judge in the Delhi gang rape case. He has doen his best to delay justice for the victims as long as he could. Despite this being a 'fast track court dealing with a high profile case in the capital that has attracted attention inside India and abroad.

First he postpones the case as his father died. He should have let another judge take over.
Next he pauses the verdict for SC to make its determination. Had he been on fast track this was not needed.
Now even after the verdict is pronounced, he delays the sentencing phase.

Truly "justice delayed, is Justice denied!"

This is an extreme case of caring for the perpetrators more thant the victims.
If a fast track court takes ~10 months for sentencing in such an open and shut case, India truly needs judicial reforms above all other governance reforms.

Indian judges cannot be trusted with implementing good governance.

Rahul Mehta Zindabad.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Sep 2013 19:37

Defence lawyers invoke Gandhi, Buddha et al while pleading for mercy for the accused!

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1887545/r ... e-of-death

Did the guilty perpetrators remind themselves of these exemplary individuals while gang raping the victim and killing her?

The lawyers should have some shame for invoking such hallowed names while seeking a lenient sentence for the foru guilty perpetrators.

....
Defence lawyers invoke principles of the Mahatma, Gautam Buddha and plead that the four gang rape convicts get a chance to reform; state says it falls in the 'rarest of rare' category.
....
“Daya karo maharaj (show some leniency). I pray for leniency on behalf of the convicts and their poor parents,” VK Anand, counsel for Mukesh, said while arguing before the court on Wednesday.

“We are a country that lives by the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha. Gandhi said he did not believe in sending one to the gallows.”

....
AP Singh, lawyer for convicts Vinay and Akshay, also invoked Gandhi by saying: “God gives life and he alone can take it, not man-made courts.” The lawyer requested the court to give one last chance for the convicts so that they could reform themselves.

He said the court must consider the social ethos surrounding the convicts, who come from rural, uneducated backgrounds and are “sexually starved”.

Defence counsel Vivek Sharma, who appeared for Pawan Gupta, said his client did not deserve the death penalty. “This was only one stroke of murder. The court can grant him the death penalty only if it feels that the convicts have a chronic hunger for murder.

The convicts are not blood-thirsty tigers,” he said. “These people are not professional criminals. They are innocent. They don’t have a criminal record. Some of them were studying. They deserve one chance at reformation.”

Vinay Sharma’s lawyer argued that his client is a good student and has applied for a job in the air force. “He did not commit the crime. Death is irreversible; purpose of justice is reform and reconciliation.”

One of the defence lawyers argued: “Batla House accused got life; was let off due to politics, so why death for these rape accused now? Why parliamentarians accused in dacoity, rape and murder are not tried by fast-track courts? These people (rapists) are not professional criminals. They are innocent. They don’t have a criminal record. Some of them were studying. They deserve one chance at reformation.”

I say the IAF is better off without this rapist as he would continue.
As for their not having a criminal record we dont know if they have been caught yet!
The confidence with which they kenticed the victim and went about the crime shows they have previouis uncaught experieince.
Further they had robbed a male victim ealrier in the day which shows a pattern of repeat offences.

What hashish are the lawyers smoking?

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 12 Sep 2013 20:05

by Ramana
Indian judges cannot be trusted with implementing good governance.

Rahul Mehta Zindabad.

Indeed!! Fast track should mean less than two weeks. as oppose to 2 years.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 13 Sep 2013 02:22

"Gandhi said he did not believe in sending one to the gallows.”

Rajguru, Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Someone ?

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 13 Sep 2013 02:59

SBajwa wrote:Indeed!! Fast track should mean less than two weeks. as oppose to 2 years.

Didn't the crime happen in last december. About 9 months per my count. Of course we are still waiting for the sentence.

The reason for the delays is following procedure. Often times the defence will use that as a technicality to get their clients off.

As long as justice grinds finely 9 months is not bad for a regular case.

If this is fast track I can only imagine what regular cases take to settle.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Sep 2013 08:36

Thats our point.

Normal cases take years.

During British times asking for vaida ie is postponement used to beggar the majority of rural folks while vakils used to grovel Milord!

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 13 Sep 2013 14:20

14:44 Defence lawyer: Will not appeal the order if there are no more rapes: Defence lawyer AP Singh says, "If there are no rapes in the next few months, I will not appeal the order."

In court, the judge Yogesh Khanna ruled that the death penalty has been given because of the inhuman torture meted out to the victim. He said it was the rarest of the rare case.

Convict Vinay Sharma breaks down in court.

The victim's parents thanks the police and media for the death sentence and said they were happy. The father believes that justice was done to his daughter.
14:36 The victim's family had said they were expecting the death penalty for the adult accused on the day the juvenile was convicted.

Reactions already coming in: Former Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar says he is happy with the order.

Defence lawyer AP Singh, the most vocal of the three lawyers, speaking now.

they should hang that A.P.Singh with the convicts

member_27448 · Post by **member_27448** » 13 Sep 2013 14:28

To suspend the Commissioner of Police, we need laws like Right To Recall police commissioner.

So the point is not only this Delhi gang rape case, its all crimes, where guilty are not punished, because we have Judge system in Judiciary, where all/most judges are corrupt and nepotistic.

Improvement of courts and police is highly necessary.

The solution to improved court is to bring Jury system.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Sep 2013 19:59

The Judge has finally shown his clarity of mind. He went straight for the murder under IPC 302. My disappointment is that the gang-rape offence hasn't been given prominence and future gang rape perpetrators will get lesser sentence using this as precedent.

Additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna announced the punishment in a packed courtroom at around 2.30 pm. "Death to all," he said.

"Besides discussing others offences, I straightaway come to section 302 (murder) of IPC. This falls under inhuman nature of the convicts and the gravity of offence they committed cannot be tolerated. Death sentence is given to all the four convicts," he said.
related story

"In these times when crime against women is on the rise courts cannot turn a blind eye towards such barbaric and gruesome crime. There cannot be any tolerance. This crime in every way falls within the rarest of rare category warranting a death sentence."

The sentence has to be confirmed by Delhi high court.

The convicts, except Akshay Thakur, started crying after the judge announced the punishment. Defence lawyer AP Singh snapped at the judge and alleged his verdict was politically biased.

"Judge saab aap satyameva jayathey ke jagah jhootameva jayatey ko uphold kiya, ye political pressure-eva jayathey hai, vote bank politics eva jayathey hain," said Singh who was defending Vinay Sharma and Thakur in court. (You have not upheld truth but lies. This decision has been taken under political pressure and for vote bank politics.)

Earlier on Tuesday, saying that the crime committed on a moving bus was in the "rarest of rare category", the court noted that the girl and her male friend were brutally assaulted, her abdomen ripped apart with an iron rod and internal organs pulled out.

They were thrown out of the bus moving at a high speed and the accused tried to run the vehicle over them. She was left on the road half-naked, seriously injured, severely bleeding and shivering in the winter chill. READ: Gang of four: the men convicted for Delhi gang-rape

The judge had convicted Mukesh Singh, 26, Vinay Sharma, 20, Pawan Gupta, 19, and Akshay Thakur, 28, on September 10, holding that there was strong evidence they had committed the brutal gang-rape and a "cold-blooded murder".

Their underage accomplice, who has since turned 18, has been sent to a reform home for three years after a juvenile board handed down a guilty verdict on August 31.

The main accused in the case Ram Singh was found hanging in his Tihar jail cell on March 11.

Special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan had demanded noose for all convicts for the "grotesque and diabolic" crime.

"There is no chance such criminals can be reformed. If death is not given to such criminals, the common man will lose faith in the courts. Society feels no woman is safe. It is for the courts to change that perception by handing down harsh punishment."

Lawyers for the four convicts had pleaded for mercy saying they were young, did not have previous criminal records and should be given a chance to reform. The court rejected the plea.

The brutal gang-rape on the night of December 16, 2012, sparked spontaneous public outrage across India, bringing thousands of people onto streets in protest against authorities' failure to ensure women's safety.

It also triggered uproar in Parliament and prompted the government to enact a tough law to deal with crimes against women, increased policing and fast-tracking of rape cases across the country.

After the savage attack, the young woman, a paramedical student, fought bravely for life and was airlifted to Singapore for treatment. But her injuries left her with no real chance and she died on December 29. READ: Victim of trial after rape

The court had convicted the accused of gang-rape, murder, conspiracy, attempt to murder, unnatural offences, dacoity, destruction of evidence, kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confining a person, abducting to subject a person to grievous hurt and slavery, abducting woman to cause her defilement.

{This is the whole Indian Penal Code that these six perpetrators had committed.}

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Po ... ourt_5.jpg

The court mainly relied on the three dying declarations of the victim, the statement of her male friend, DNA analysis, forensic and electronic evidence to hold them guilty.

The Defence lawyers seem to be ORCs from LOTR.

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 13 Sep 2013 20:37

Good that justice has been done. The 5th one needs to die as well. If not through the justice system, outside it.