Rewari gangrape: 3 convicts awarded 20-year imprisonment, 5 accused let off on ‘benefit of doubt’

The three — Nishu Phogat, Manish and Pankaj Fauji — were convicted Thursday on charges of gangrape and abduction while five other accused were acquitted of charges levelled against them.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each on the three convicts and directed the District Legal Services Authority to give Rs 5 lakh to the victim as compensation.

All the three convicts and the victim belong to the same village in Rewari district. The five other accused were acquitted due to “benefit of doubt”.

The case went on in the court for over three years during which 33 witnesses were recorded in the trial. After hearing arguments from both the sides, the Special Court’s Judge Mona Singh held the three accused guilty of Sections 328, 365, and 376-d.

The crime took place in neighbouring Mahendragarh district. The girl, who is now a final year graduation student, had then told the police that Pankaj (whom she already knew) and Manish, both residents of her village, met her near a bus stand when she was going to attend her coaching class for competitive exams.

In her statement to the police at that time, the victim had said that “Pankaj and Manish offered her a glass of water, after drinking which she fell unconscious”. She added that the accused took her in a car to a well in the nearby fields and gave her another sedated drink. She further alleged that then the accused took turns to rape her. They, subsequently, dumped her and also informed her parents about her location. Her family members approached the police but no action was taken.

Later, a Zero FIR was registered in Rewari and sent to Kanina police station. The incident hit headlines for several days and due to police inaction, the then in-charges of Rewari and Kanina police stations were placed under suspension. Rewari’s then Superintendent of Police Rajesh Duggal was also transferred out.