Bengal: Appeals in Kamduni gang rape and murder case pending

The appeals in the gang rape and murder of a college student in West Bengal's Kamduni, in which three convicts were sentenced to death and another three were given life term by a trial court, has been pending in the Calcutta High Court since 2016.

The gang rape and the murder that happened in 2013 when the 21-year-old woman was returning home shook the state amid concerns over women's safety.

The appeals were moved and admitted in the high court in 2016 following their conviction by a trial court, a lawyer associated with the case said, adding that final hearings were pending.

Observing that the case fell under the rarest of rare category, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sanchita Sarkar had in January 2016 handed out capital punishment to Saiful Ali, Ansar Ali and Aminul Ali who were convicted of gang rape and murder.

Imanul Islam, Aminul Islam and Bhola Naskar, who were convicted on charges of gang rape, criminal conspiracy and causing disappearance of evidence, were sentenced to life imprisonment.

This was the first conviction and sentencing in the state under the anti-rape law which was enacted following the Nirbhaya incident in the national capital.

The second-year BA student was dragged into a farm while walking back home along a deserted road in Kamduni, about 50km from Kolkata, in North 24 Parganas district, after appearing for an examination at her college on June 7, 2013.

She was gang-raped and murdered subsequently, and the mutilated body was found next morning at the farm.