CHANDIGARH: A local court on Friday sentenced three persons to life imprisonment till natural death and fined them Rs 2.05 lakh each for raping a 21-year-old woman in the infamous
auto gang-rape case, slamming the police and expressing concern over safety of residents.
The court of additional district and sessions judge Poonam R Joshi, in its judgment, said this case is a classic example of the phrase, “the city peaceful has become unsafe”. “A woman who steps out to earn her livelihood has become a victim of persons running a public transport in which the entire public has full faith. The incident had made every woman staying in Chandigarh to think uncountable number of times as to whether she should step out after sunset even if she has a very important task. The incident had sent shivers not only down the spine of the females but the city as a whole,” the judgment said.
Pointing out that it’s high time for Chandigarh Police to keep check on autos and other public transport vehicles, the judgment stated cops need to act instead of just boasting. The judgement stated, “The capital of two states boast of excellent, police patrolling and management, but this incident has sent shivers down the spine of not only residents of the city but the county as a whole. Autos are going unchecked in the city. It is high time the police look into the matter and keep a check on all autos and other public transport plying in the city so that such untoward incidents are not repeated.”
On August 27, the court had confined the three accused,
Mohammad Irfan (27), an
auto driver, Mohammad Garib and Kismat Ali, both labourers. Irfan was the main accused in the gang rape of a call centre employee in Sector 29 in December 2016. The judgment stated the convicts had used sympathy factor to win the confidence of the woman.
‘Convicts deserved no leniency’
Irfan indulged into talking with her when she boarded the auto and told her that his daughter is paralyzed. Irfan also called the victim “beti”, the judgment stated. “The entire set of circumstances show that accused tried to win over the victim by telling stories about his paralytic daughter. The accused were aware about the vulnerability of females and he started telling such a story of his daughter,” the judgment said.
Stating that the convicts deserve no leniency, the court said, “Unfortunate are the mothers who have given birth to such beasts and kept them close to their bosom with the hope that they will be saviours of their future.”
Representative image
