Six persons involved in the gang rape of a seventeen year-old girl in Meghalaya in 2012 were today sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment by a fast track court in the state.
The Tura Fast Track Court which convicted the six men last Thursday, pronounced the sentence today at a packed court room in Tura, the headquarter of West Garo Hills district.
Laston Marak, Tobath Marak, Platon C Marak, Chengchow D Sangma, Kisen N Marak and Chingkam Ch Marak who took turns to rape the minor girl along with 10 other juvenile boys on the night of December 16, 2012 were sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5000 each.
The fast track court Judge N D Sangma also imposed a rigorous imprisonment of another one year along with a fine of Rs 1000 each for rape, causing hurt and wrongful restraint, and acts done by a group of people with a common intention.
The Judge said the fines collected from the rapists would be paid to the victim, a school girl, who is nursing post-incident trauma and had to be relocated to another town for her schooling.
Sixteen persons brutally gang-raped the young woman, after she fell unconscious after being hit with a brick. They dragged her into a jungle taking turns to commit the crime, Public Prosecutor P L Sebastian said.
The victim was returning home after watching a fashion parade during the Winter Festival organized by the state government along with her friend on that fateful evening.
Cases against the juveniles are being dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board in East Garo Hills district where the incident took place.
