A Delhi court Monday awarded life imprisonment to five men convicted in the Dhaula Kuan gang-rape, calling them "psychopaths" with no regard for the honour of women and a "threat to society".
"It is the demand of justice that they (convicts) should be kept from the society as long as possible," said Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat.
The judge also held that the crime committed by them is "intensively grave, serious and odious in nature".
The five convicts - Shamshad ali as Khutkan, Usman alias Kale, Shahid alias Chhota Billi, Iqbal alias Bada Billi and Kamruddin -- were found guilty of abducting and gang raping a 30-year-old call centre executive in Delhi in 2010.
The court had convicted them Oct 14.
It also slapped a fine of Rs.50,000 on each of the convicts, who were present in the court during the pronouncement of the judgment.
More From This Section
Soon after hearing the verdict, Shahid fainted in the courtroom.
The convicts' families who are disappointed over the judgment, have decided to challenge it in a higher court.
The verdict said: "It has come on record that all the convicts were married at that time, having children and still they were roaming on the roads in Delhi in search of a soft target to satisfy their sexual lust. This manifests that the convicts are psychopaths having no regard for the honour and dignity of the women folk in the society and thus are a threat to the whole society...."
The court said: "The rape victim has to live with the scar of rape throughout her life and the incident shatters her life as well as her dreams in a violent manner."
It also said that such incidents diminish to a large extent the marriage prospects of the victims.
"In the instant case, I was informed that the rape victim had to leave her job, wherefrom, she was earning handsomely, soon after the incident and shifted to her native place in the northeast where she is making both ends meet by running a petty shop. This amply indicates the impact of rape on a victim," said the court.
The judge also said that the society itself looks upon this crime with utmost indignation and abhorration and expects the perpetrators of the crime to be dealt with sternly.
"The court, while sentencing an offender, cannot ignore the impact of crime upon the society and the society's expectations upon the court in dealing with such criminals. In other words, imposition of sentence without considering its effect on the social order would be a futile exercise," it said, refusing any leniency to them.
The five men abducted the woman, who hailed from the northeast Nov 24, 2010. At that time, she was walking home with a friend after her shift had ended, according to police.
The abductors took her to Mangolpuri, gang raped her, and left her on an isolated road.
The men were later arrested from Mewat region of Haryana.
After the incident, Delhi Police ordered all BPOs in Delhi and the National Capital Region to drop women employees home after their shift ends.