While Saiful Ali, Ansar Ali and Aminul Ali may be given a minimum sentence of 20 years or a maximum punishment of the death penalty, the other three found guilty may face a minimum of 20 years in prison or a maximum of life in prison. The gruesome event occurred just nine months after the Nirbhaya rape case of Delhi.
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The victim, a second year BA student of Derozio College in Barasat, was walking home when she was abducted, taken to a factory and raped by nine men.
Kolkata: Following a long wait of over two and half years, three of the Kamduni rape convicts were handed death sentences while the three others were awarded life-term in the gangrape case that traumatised West Bengal in 2013.
The six face punishments ranging from 20 years in jail to the death penalty. The quantum of punishment will be announced within this week. The convicts as well as the prosecution will move Calcutta high court against Saturday’s sentencing, sources said.
The Kamduni incident triggered widespread protests across the state, as a result of which the Kamduni Protibadi Mancha (a protestors’ forum) was formed to demand increased safety for women in West Bengal.
Rafiqul Islam and Nur Ali were acquitted, while the ninth accused Gopal Naskar died while the trial was on.
They knocked on the doors of top political and constitutional authorities including the president, demanding the trial be expedited.
“When Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had visited Kamduni in 2013 after the incident, she had promised the culprits will be arrested and punished.
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Although six people were finally convicted in this case, two others were acquitted and from what we have heard, the charges against them were weakened because they are linked to the ruling party”, Bose said.
