Four Kerala youths, who had gangraped a minor girl hailing from West Bengal in 2011 at Vayathur near Irikkur in the northern Kannur district, were today sentenced to life by a court here.
The accused have also been directed to pay Rs one lakh each as fine which would be given to the victim, hailing from Murshidabad in West Bengal.
The court had on Saturday found the four guilty of the crime and the quantum of sentence was pronounced today.
Thalassery District Sessions Court Judge V Shircy, had found the accused -- P V Biju (38), Mohammed Shariff (27), Mohammed Salim (25) and Jamsheer (22) guilty of various offences, including kidnapping, rape and wrongful confinement.
Observing that the accused had committed the most heinous crime and did not deserve a lesser punishment, the judge sentenced all the four to life imprisonment.
The first accused, Biju, a lorry driver, has been directed to sell his lorry and hand over the proceeds to the victim.
The victim is lodged in Mahila mandiram here.
According to police, the girl had come to Kerala in search of her lover. She came to know that he was working at Virajpet in Coorg in Karnataka. However, on going there along with her brother-in-law and another man, she failed to find him as he had left for West Bengal.
The three were waiting at a bus stop for Iritty in Kannur when three of the accused, who were in a lorry, offered them lift. Instead of taking them to Iritty, they drove the lorry to a river bank at Vayathur and gangraped the girl after beating up the two men with her on December 24, 2011. They then called their friend to join in the orgy.
