A Delhi court on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment all five convicted in the gangrape and robbery of a 52-year-old Danish woman in central Delhi in 2014.
The Delhi Police had sought maximum punishment for all convicts.
Mahendra alias Ganja (27), Mohd Raja (23), Raju (24), Arjun (22) and Raju Chakka (23) were convicted under sections 376 (D) (gangrape), 395 (dacoity), 366 (abducting woman), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
The five convicts had gangraped the 52-year-old Danish tourist at knife point near the New Delhi railway station.
Nine men, including three juveniles, were accused of abducting, raping and robbing the 52-year-old at knife-point on January 14 night two years ago.
Three other accused in the case are juveniles and the inquiry against them is in progress before the Juvenile Justice Board.
While pronouncing the judgement, Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar II said “All (five) accused are held guilty for all offences.”
Special prosecutor Atul Srivastava said the convicts had committed the offences against the woman in a barbaric manner. They had dented the reputation of the country in the international community.
As the crime was committed against a foreigner, a message should be sent that the rule of law prevailed in India, Mr. Srivastava said.
The tourist, who arrived in India on January 1, 2014, visited Agra and returned to Delhi on January 13. While staying in the capital, she lost her way back to the hotel. A group of men near Connaught Place offered to take her back to the hotel, but instead took her to an isolated park and raped her.
According to the prosecution, the five men, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers Club near the Railway Station.
The woman had come to India on January 1, 2014, and stayed in Delhi for a couple of days before leaving for Agra. After visiting several places, she returned to the national capital on January 13, 2014, and stayed in a hotel in Paharganj near the rail station.
