1st gang rape conviction in Muzaffarnagar riots: 2 sentenced to 20 years’ jail

AGRA: A local court in Muzaffarnagar has sentenced two men — Maheshvir and Sikander Malik — to 20 years in jail for the gangrape of a woman from the minority community during the 2013 communal riots in the western UP district that left over 50,000 homeless and claimed 60 lives. The third accused, Kuldeep Singh, had died during the course of the trial in 2020. The case had gained pace after the Supreme Court’s intervention.
This is also possibly the first such conviction in a “rape case involving riots”. Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Vrinda Grover, who had been representing the survivor’s case, said, “This is probably the first case of conviction under IPC 376(2)(G) pursuant to the 2013 Criminal Law Amendment, which recognised rape during communal violence as a specific offence.”
Another SC lawyer, Farha Faiz, added, “Probably it is the first time in which punishment -- and conviction -- has been meted out under Section 376 (2)(G), following the amendment of Section 376...”
The survivor, who had narrated her ordeal to her husband at a relief camp back then, said on Tuesday, “After 10 years, the court has convicted the men who gangraped me. It was an uphill legal battle. Initially, I was scared of filing a complaint as I was threatened by the accused. Thereafter, at the relief camp, I heard that I wasn’t the only one. There were other women with similar, horrific tales. And some of them had taken up their sexual assault cases with the authorities. I’m thankful to the hon’ble SC for its timely interventions.”
The woman added: “Justice and truth have prevailed. I hope my case will act as a source of strength for other sexual assault victims of the riots to come forward and seek justice.”
The assault had happened when the woman was fleeing her village to save her younger son. The accused had stopped her near a school, took the mother-son duo to a nearby cane field and gangraped the woman after putting a knife to her son’s throat.
Incidentally, the SC had recently directed the trial court for a speedy hearing after the riot and gangrape survivor, now aged 36, approached the top court.
Mohammad Rizwan, who had been assisting SC lawyer Vrinda Grover in this case, said, “The special court-2 of the additional district and sessions judge, Anjani Kumar, in Muzaffarnagar had started hearing this case on a day-to-day basis from the first week of April after receiving the apex court’s directive. The survivor was raped by three local villagers after her house was looted and burnt by a mob in Shamli district on September 8, 2013.”
Police had initially registered an FIR for “loot” and “arson”. But following an intervention by SC in May 2014, the accused were charged under IPC sections 376 (2)(G) (gang rape in riots) 376-D, (gang rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The three men were sent to jail, but they later came out on bail.
During the 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, at least seven women had come forward and claimed they had been raped. FIRs were registered in all these cases. But due to “lack of evidence”, the accused in five cases of rape had been acquitted by the court while trial is ongoing in one such case.
The riots and rape survivor said, “The road to justice has not been easy. I not only faced threats and intimidation but also had to struggle through vilifying cross examination about my character. Due to the threats and intimidation, I was forced to relocate to another city with my family. But many people helped me along the way, for which I am grateful.”
She added: “The trial was protracted and deliberately delayed at every step to exhaust me. I had to approach the Supreme Court on multiple occasions to access my constitutional right to a speedy trial. It was only after the Supreme Court directed that a day-to-day hearing be held in my case that the criminal trial was finally concluded.”