The four accused who gang-raped a 19-year-old woman in Bhopal have been awarded life imprisonment by a fast track court

All four accused who gang raped a 19-year-old woman in Bhopal in November have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast-track court media reports have said.

#FLASH Bhopal UPSC aspirant gang-rape case: Fast track court awards lifetime imprisonment to all the 4 accused. pic.twitter.com/RT8bAIh7K2 — ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2017

Additional District and Sessions Judge Savita Dubey awarded the sentence to the four accused. "They will remain behind bars for the rest of their lives," the court said according to PTI.

The woman, a UPSC aspirant, was abducted and raped by four men near the railway tracks in Bhopal on 3 November. She was returning home after attending a coaching class in Maharana Pratap Nagar when the incident occurred, police said.

The men tried to snatch her jewellery, but when she resisted, they allegedly took the woman under a culvert near the railway tracks and raped her. According to News18, the culprits tried to kill the woman by strangulating her. However, when the girl fainted, they fled, assuming her to be dead.

The Habibganj Railway Station Police had arrested all four accused and booked them under sections 376 D (gangrape) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, according to PTI. A special investigation team (SIT) was set up by the Madhya Pradesh police to probe the crime.

The accused are identified as Golu Bihari Chadhar (25), Amar Chhantu alias Ghuntu (24), Chetram alias Raju (26), and Ramesh Mehra alias Raju (45).

The case faced flak not just due to a lapse by the police officials, who, according to media sources, had refused to file an FIR and had also mocked the woman for cooking up a "filmy story," but also due to a lapse in a medical report calling it a "consensual" act.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court served notices to the chief secretary, the director general of police and others following the medical report that had errors. The government also suspended five policemen for alleged negligence which led to a delay in registering the offence.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh was also questioned over the law and order situation in the state.

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly, Ajay Singh, said, "Our chief minister claims that Madhya Pradesh is ahead of even America when it comes to women empowerment. But the claim stands exposed in the state capital."

With inputs from agencies