NOIDA: An additional sessions court sentenced three persons to life imprisonment for raping a 20-year-old woman and forcing her into prostitution in 2018.
The accused were identified as Sameer, Omkar Kshatriya and Anoop Gupta, all in their mid-20s and from Delhi.
On February 5, 2018, the woman — originally from Gangtok in Sikkim — managed to escape from her tormentors and inform police. “The three accused were drinking outside their car when the woman managed to escape. She kept running until she spotted a police response vehicle (PRV). A police team accompanied her to the car and arrested the three,” said Dharmendra Jaint, the additional district government counsel. The three were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody. The woman was sent to the District Hospital for an examination.
Dr Pushplata, who conducted the tests on her, said in her report that there were no external injuries. “Her hymen was torn. In the pathology report, spermatozoa was not found, and a concrete opinion of rape can’t be given.”
The accused, however, denied the charges against them and decided to face trial.
In the court, the victim said she had met a woman, Monika, in Gangtok and accompanied her to Delhi after being promised a job in the national capital for a monthly salary of Rs 10,000-15,000.
“I went to sleep in her room. When I woke up, Monika was not there. I found these three men instead. They said Monika had sold me to them,” she told the court. “The three took turns to rape me. They kept me in a small room and threatened me with dire consequences if I informed anyone.” The woman alleged she was forced into the sex trade and taken to different clients over time.
“We were on our way to a client in Noida when the three stopped the car and started drinking. When they had downed a few pegs, I escaped and ran to a police team,” she said.
Sahab Singh, a sub-inspector, told the court, “The police team took the girl along and arrested the three persons. Their car was also seized,” he said.
Defence lawyer Harishchandra Verma said the allegations against his clients were not true. He also argued that the prosecution had failed to arrest Monika although she was a key witness in the case.
A defence witness, Prem Darja Sherpa, claimed in the court that the woman was known to one of the accused, Omkar. “She had borrowed some money from Omkar. When he demanded the money back, she filed a case against him and his friends,” he said.
The court heard both the sides and said that through witnesses and evidence, the prosecution succeeded in proving that the accused forced the woman into prostitution.
Additional sessions judge Ran Vijay Pratap Singh on Tuesday sentenced the three persons to life imprisonment and fined them Rs 50,000 under Section 376/120 (rape and criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
“They are also sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 50,000 each under Section 6 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956; two years of imprisonment and Rs 1,000 fine under Section 4, and 14 years of imprisonment and Rs 2,000 fine under Section 5 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,” the court said. Sameer and Omkar were already in judicial custody while Anoop was on bail.
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court’s directives on cases related to sexual assault)
The accused were identified as Sameer, Omkar Kshatriya and Anoop Gupta, all in their mid-20s and from Delhi.
On February 5, 2018, the woman — originally from Gangtok in Sikkim — managed to escape from her tormentors and inform police. “The three accused were drinking outside their car when the woman managed to escape. She kept running until she spotted a police response vehicle (PRV). A police team accompanied her to the car and arrested the three,” said Dharmendra Jaint, the additional district government counsel. The three were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody. The woman was sent to the District Hospital for an examination.
Dr Pushplata, who conducted the tests on her, said in her report that there were no external injuries. “Her hymen was torn. In the pathology report, spermatozoa was not found, and a concrete opinion of rape can’t be given.”
The accused, however, denied the charges against them and decided to face trial.
In the court, the victim said she had met a woman, Monika, in Gangtok and accompanied her to Delhi after being promised a job in the national capital for a monthly salary of Rs 10,000-15,000.
“I went to sleep in her room. When I woke up, Monika was not there. I found these three men instead. They said Monika had sold me to them,” she told the court. “The three took turns to rape me. They kept me in a small room and threatened me with dire consequences if I informed anyone.” The woman alleged she was forced into the sex trade and taken to different clients over time.
“We were on our way to a client in Noida when the three stopped the car and started drinking. When they had downed a few pegs, I escaped and ran to a police team,” she said.
Sahab Singh, a sub-inspector, told the court, “The police team took the girl along and arrested the three persons. Their car was also seized,” he said.
Defence lawyer Harishchandra Verma said the allegations against his clients were not true. He also argued that the prosecution had failed to arrest Monika although she was a key witness in the case.
A defence witness, Prem Darja Sherpa, claimed in the court that the woman was known to one of the accused, Omkar. “She had borrowed some money from Omkar. When he demanded the money back, she filed a case against him and his friends,” he said.
The court heard both the sides and said that through witnesses and evidence, the prosecution succeeded in proving that the accused forced the woman into prostitution.
Additional sessions judge Ran Vijay Pratap Singh on Tuesday sentenced the three persons to life imprisonment and fined them Rs 50,000 under Section 376/120 (rape and criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
“They are also sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 50,000 each under Section 6 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956; two years of imprisonment and Rs 1,000 fine under Section 4, and 14 years of imprisonment and Rs 2,000 fine under Section 5 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,” the court said. Sameer and Omkar were already in judicial custody while Anoop was on bail.
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court’s directives on cases related to sexual assault)