india

Updated: Mar 20, 2019 08:58 IST

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence awarded to seven men for the gangrape and murder of a mentally challenged woman in Rohtak in 2015.

The high court bench of justice AB Chaudhari and justice Surinder Gupta also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the accused, to be recovered by selling off their properties.

The incident dates back to February 1, 2015, when the 27-year-old victim, who used to live with her elder sister on the outskirts of Rohtak town, was waylaid by the convicts, who later gangraped and murdered her.

They were awarded death sentence on December 21, 2015 and a reference for the affirmation of high court was sent by the trial court, which was decided on Tuesday, along with appeals of the convicts.

The convicts are Padam, Pawan, Sarwar, Manbir, Rajesh, Sunil and Sunil, alias Sheela.

Another accused in the case, Somvir, had committed suicide in Delhi, days after the incident. One more accused was declared juvenile.

“We are shocked and aghast to see .... number of injuries and nature of injuries caused to the victim .... with the brutal and predatory acts of perpetrators of the barbaric crime,” the court said while upholding the death sentence.

The victim was taken to two places by the convicts, who, after consuming alcohol, raped her. They left the initial spot due to fear after a police jeep passed by. They had also bludgeoned the victim with bricks.

‘Tsunami of cruelty’

“What must be the excruciating pain to almost half-dead young woman! Then the animalism, torment, highest order of cruelty, rather tsunami of cruelty, made thereafter is bound to petrify one and all,” the court observed on the evidence that some external object was inserted into the victim’s private parts.

While imposing the Rs 50-lakh fine on the convicts, the court said the imposition of heavy fine, if recovered by selling off the properties of the guilty, would prove to be an additional deterrence, and directed Rohtak deputy commissioner to identify the immovable properties of all the accused and attach them within one month.

The properties are to be sold within two months and amount recovered be given to state as well as sister of the victim.

Haryana additional advocate general Deepak Sabharwal had argued that the brutality was akin to the 2012 Delhi gangrape case wherein the apex court had upheld the death sentence to the accused.