OP Jindal University rape case convicts to remain in jail

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that two main accused of the OP Jindal Global University rape case will remain in jail until the Punjab and Haryana High Court decide the appeals filed by the convicts within five months.

Earlier in May, 2017, a Sonepat court had convicted the students for gang raping and blackmailing a fellow female student for over a year.

The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the victim after the High Court in September 2017 let off the three convicts.

The top court had already stayed the High Court's order in November 2017.

The case dates back to 2015 when a student of OP Jindal Global University in Sonepat had alleged that her friend Hardik Sikri had blackmailed her using photos of her.

The woman had alleged that Sikri forced her to have physical relations with him and his two friends, Vikas Garg and Karan Chhabra.

The three accused were earlier jailed by a trial court for raping the victim but the Punjab and Haryana High Court had suspended their conviction and sentence in September last year on the grounds that the woman was "promiscuous" and had "casual sexual escapades".

The victim approached the top court challenging the High Court's order of suspension of convicts' sentences.

She alleged that the accused have been blackmailing her as they have her objectionable pictures and expressed apprehension of circulation of those photographs.

On April 11, 2015, the victim had lodged a complaint with the university administration alleging that the trio, final year law students of the university, had been blackmailing and raping her since August 2013.

She had also alleged that the accused had her objectionable photos and they used to threaten to make the photos viral and coerced her to have physical relations with them.