Lifer for rapist, 20 years jail for four others

A women's court here today sentenced a person to undergo life imprisonment and awarded four others 20 years' imprisonment in connection with a case of kidnap and rape of a college student in November 2008.
The prosecution case was that serial offender 'Gym' Hakkim and two of his accomplices had kidnapped a girl student who was in a car along with her friend in the city, taken them to an abandoned building near Sulur on the outskirts, with three others following them in a car.
They allegedly took photographs of the friends in a compromising position and wanted to extort Rs five lakh cash from them to hush up the matter.

Some gang members collected the ransom amount from the victim's house while Hakim allegedly raped the 24-year old student.
Delivering the judgement, Judge M P Subramaniam sentenced Hakim to life imprisonment, one-year term plus Rs 5,000 for rioting, 20 years and Rs 20,000 for kidnapping.
The sentences will run concurrently.

He was also asked to pay Rs one lakh as compensation to the victim, which could be used for legal aid if the victim rejected the amount.
The other accused - K George Kingsley, Mohammed Aniz, S Karthik and S Miga Prkash were found guilty of rioting, kidnapping, wrongful confinement, dacoity and criminal conspiracy and were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

One Manikandan, a gang member, committed suicide during the course of the trial while another accused is absconding.