Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) leader and Politburo member Brinda Karat on Thursday praised the court's verdict on the Shakti Mills gangrape case as positive.
"This is a positive decision given by the court in the Shakti Mills gang rape case where both the victims have been given justice. It was the sheer courage of the photo-journalist which led to the other rape victim to come forward and fight for justice. I believe that with this verdict more such women will come forward in lodging complaints if they face similar situations," Karat said.
A court in Mumbai has found four accused in Mumbai's Shakti Mills gang rape case as guilty for raping two women in the desolate compound.
It may be recalled that the accused men had outraged the modesty of a 22-year-old photo-journalist, interning for a lifestyle magazine in August last year. At least three of the five men assaulted the victim at an abandoned mill close to the railway tracks in the Mahalaxmi area of Mumbai.
The five accused in the Shakti Mills gang rape of a 23-year-old photojournalist on August 22 are Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav, Chand Babu Sattar Shaikh, Mohammed Kasim Hafiz Shaikh alias Kasim Bengali and Siraj Rehman Khan.
Days after their arrest, a telephone operator came forward revealing that three of the accused had also gang-raped her on July 31. A charge sheet was filed against four of the accused in October. The accused, all unemployed young men, lived at a nearby slum.