Five get rigorous imprisonment for life in gangrape case

In record 30 days, a fast-track court here sentenced five persons to rigorous imprisonment for life and slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of them for the gangrape of a minor girl in Odisha's Sambalpur district on May 2.

The sixth accused in the case, a juvenile, was sent to a correction home.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Udayabhanu Jena pronounced the sentence yesterday after hearing arguments and counter-arguments by the prosecution and the defense counsels for over 14 hours, Special Public Prosecutor Santosh Panda said.

The 15-year-old girl's mother had said in her complaint that her daughter, a Class IX student of Sasan area in the district, was on her way home from a local market on May 2 when the juvenile approached her for a conversation, a police officer said.

The boy took her to an isolated place, raped her and abandoned her. The girl was then spotted by five other youths, who also took turns to rape her, the officer said quoting the FIR.

Based on the complaint, the police arrested the six accused over the next three days.

The victim committed suicide on May 23, five days before the court hearing in the case began, the officer added.

Altogether, 21 witnesses were examined by the court during the course of hearing, the special public prosecutor said, adding the verdict would boost people's faith in judicial system.