Five rapists of a 52-year-old Danish woman will have to serve remainder of their lives in prison, a Delhi court ordered today, saying their "inhuman" and "brutal" acts of abduction and gangrape in 2014 had put a stigma on the reputation of the nation.
Rejecting a plea for award of minimum sentence of 20 years jail term instead of a term for rest of the life, the court said "it was for convicts to respect the lady especially when she was a tourist" and by their act, they have put "a stigma" on the country's reputation.
"They do not deserve any leniency," it said.
The court held the five men guilty for the offences under IPC sections 376 (D) (gang rape), 395 (dacoity), 366 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention).
While sentencing them for the offence of gangrape, the court also awarded varying jail terms to them for other offences for which they were held guilty.
Besides the victim's testimony identifying three of the nine culprits, the court lent credence to the scientific evidence that included the DNA and FSL reports and the eyewitness account of a gardener as clinching evidence to ascertain the identity of all the convicts.
Ruling out the defence counsel's charge of "fabrication" under "media pressure", the court held that the "most vital evidence" to connect all these men with the crime was the DNA report and there was no possibility of any manipulation in medical examination and DNA report prepared in foreign land, that is Copenhagen in Denmark.
It said the DNA profile generated from the victim's clothes matched with the DNA profile of the samples of the convicts which made it "clear that accused persons are the offenders who committed the offence".
It said the manner in which offence has been committed by the convicts was "certainly inhuman" and the victim, a foreigner, had come to India with a faith that she would be safe but when she was returning to her hotel,she lost her way.
When she asked the men for directions, instead of helping her, they misled, abducted and gangraped her in "brutal manner to satisfy their lust and rob her belongings," it said.
"She had been subjected to such inhuman act continuously for long five hours ... Accused did not show any mercy when she was saying that do not rape her as she was having AIDS," Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar II said.
