In the much awaited decision, a division bench of the Kerala High Court (HC) has handed out a life term to the main accused in the Suryanelli gangrape case.
The court also sentenced the other accused to jail terms ranging between four and thirteen years. According to reports, the court said there is no reason to disbelieve the survivor's statement.
The case dates back to 1996, when a 16-year-old girl hailing from Kerala's Idukki District was abducted and raped by different people in the state.
According to the prosecution, the girl was raped about 68 times over a period of 40 days by 41 people. The case took a high profile turn when the girl alleged that one of her rapists was Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker P.J. Kurien.
But the court refused to make Kurien an accused in the case, thereby rejecting the survivor's plea.
