Court convicts 5 persons in Danish woman gangrape case

A Delhi court today convicted five persons for gangraping, robbing and kidnapping a 52-year-old Danish woman here in 2014.
After pronouncing the order, Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar II fixed June 9 for hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence in the case.
"All accused are held guilty for all offences," the judge said.
The judge convicted them for the offences under sections 376 (D) (gang rape), 395 (dacoity), 366 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of IPC.
The convicts -- Mahendra alias Ganja (27), Mohd Raja (23), Raju (24), Arjun (22), Raju Chakka (23) -- were present in the court.

Under the new law for gang rape, an offender can be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years, but which may extend to life.

According to the prosecution, the five, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers' Club near New Delhi Railway Station.
During the hearing, the court was informed that the defence counsel had challenged its previous order dismissing a plea seeking to examine some doctors as witnesses on the potency issue of the sixth accused, 56-year-old Shyam Lal who died in February this year.

The court, however, said nowhere in the application it was mentioned that the proceedings of this court had been stayed by the Delhi High Court.
"Hence, this court is not barred from passing the order," the judge said.
Three other accused in the case are juveniles and the inquiry against them is in progress before the Juvenile Justice Board.
The prosecution had examined 27 witnesses in support of its case while the convicts had opted not to lead any evidence.
The convicts had claimed that a day prior to the incident on January 14, 2014, they had hired a prostitute and had physical relations with her while rejecting the charges levelled against them.