CHANDIGARH: A special court on Monday held three persons guilty of raping a 21-year-old woman at
Sector 53 on November 17, 2017, in the infamous auto
gang-rape case. The quantum of sentence would be pronounced on August 31. The convicts are Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Garib and Kismat Ali. Irfan is also the main accused in the gang rape of a call centre employee in Sector 29 in December 2016.
According to the chargesheet, the woman had boarded a shared auto-rickshaw at 7.45pm from Sector 37 on November 17, 2017. Two male passengers (Garib and Ali, alias Poppu) were already in the three-wheeler. Instead of taking the woman to Mohali, the driver (Irfan) headed towards Sector 42 on the pretext of refuelling the vehicle. Later, Irfan drove her to a jungle at Sector 53, where all three raped her. An hour later, two men on a motorcycle spotted the woman crying on the roadside. She told them about the crime, following which they informed the police.
The rape survivor had identified the accused autorickshaw driver and the two others during an identification parade. It was also mentioned the accused were roaming around the area with an intention to commit a crime after consuming liquor. The deliberately drove towards southern sectors to find a target.
The accused had been charged under Sections 376 D (gang rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The DNA of all three accused had matched with that of the victim, confirming the crime. The images of the accused were caught in a CCTV camera installed at the Sector 42 petrol pump, where the accused had stopped to get the fuel tank refilled. Irfan, 29, was the first to be arrested on November 24, 2017, and had named the other two accused. The duo was arrested the very next day in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, the police had announced Rs 1lakh reward for information on the accused.
Representative image
