Danish-woman rape case: Delhi-HC upholds life imprisonment of five convicts
The Delhi High Court, on Monday, upheld life imprisonment given to five convicts for raping a 52-year-old Danish woman in Delhi in 2014. The HC dismissed the convicts' plea challenging the 2016 judgement of a trial court, saying the DNA report confirmed their guilt. Here are the details of the case.
"In view of the victim's evidence, corroborated by the DNA report, this court is satisfied that the conclusion of the trial court on the guilt of the accused is correct. Accordingly, the appeals are dismissed," said a bench of justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta.
While hearing the case, the bench pulled up the investigating officer for a botched-up inquiry. The convicts were charged under Sections 76 (D) (gang rape), 395 (dacoity), 366 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. Announcing the sentence in 2016, the trial court had called their crime 'inhumane' and 'brutal', which harmed the reputation of the country.
The Danish woman came to Delhi on January 1, 2014. She then went to Agra and returned to the capital on 13th of the same month. On losing her way to her Paharganj hotel, she sought directions from one accused. The men, all vagabonds, then led her to a secluded spot near the Divisional Railway Officers' Club and raped her at knife-point.
The nine convicts include Arjun (23), Raju alias Chhakka (24), Mohammad Raja (24), Mahendra alias Ganja (28) and Raju alias Bajji (25), and three minors (whose proceedings are handled by Juvenile Justice Board). Another accused Shyam Lal had died in Tihar Jail in February 2016.
