23 February,2017 07:32 AM IST | | Sailee Dhayalkar
In 2013, 10 people gang-raped a 38-year-old woman at three different places in Mulund, and on Wednesday, a special women's court convicted nine of the accused and sentenced two of them to life imprisonment and remaining seven to 20 years of imprisonment
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In 2013, 10 people gang-raped a 38-year-old woman at three different places in Mulund, and on Wednesday, a special women's court convicted nine of the accused and sentenced two of them to life imprisonment and remaining seven to 20 years of imprisonment.
One accused is still absconding.
Special women court judge SKS Razvi sentenced Wahid Khan alias Kaalu and Vishal Sood to life imprisonment, while other accused Ajay Geychand, Mahesh Margaze, Dastgir Khan, Vasim Shaikh, Manprit Singh Gill, Bhuvan Hamal and Dhiraj Panchal were sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.
The court heavily relied on the statement of the survivor, medical evidence, in which the DNA of the four accused matched the bite marks on the survivor's body and mobile call data records. In her statement to the court, the woman recalled the night of September 20, 2013, when she was asleep in a tempo in Mulund when Ajay, Vishal, Dastagir and Vasim came inside.
Vishal put a hand on her mouth while Ajay pulled her out of the tempo. They took her at a dark spot near a Chinese joint where the four took turns raping her. Vishal then called Manprit, Hamal and Mahesh who also raped her. She told court, "I was crying, but they kept biting me. Then Vishal asked them to carry me to a jungle. They dragged me, by pulling my hair and beating me."
The woman sat on a bike while being taken to the jungle between two men Dheeru (Dhiraj) and Kaalu, who also raped her. She said that Kaalu not only raped her unnaturally but also peed on her and inserted a stick in her genitals. Kaalu also took R100 from her, which was all the money she had for food. She fell unconscious soon and woke up only an hour later, after which she looked for her saree, which was in the mud. She wore and walked to the police station.
But the cops weren't kind either. "The police thought I was mad. Then one police officer offered me tea. I was not in a position to talk, due to bites from Kaalu all over my body. That police officer asked one lady police constable to verify whether I am insane." Later, she narrated the whole incident and her statement was recorded. She then took police to all the three spots and explained what happened, after which she was taken to a hospital.
