THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three men, including a policeman, were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by the Neyyattinkara sub-court for gangraping a married woman in 2016.
Policeman Abhayan, 47, third accused in the case, was sentenced along with two other accused, Sajad, 33, and Sreejith, 32. Sajad is the first accused in the case, while Sreejith is the second accused.
The prosecution case was that Sajad befriended the woman and later subjected her to gang rape at the residence of the cop at Choozhattukotta.
Through Sajad the woman had developed acquaintance with Sreejith. On November 25, 2016, Sajad and Sreejith took the woman to Choozhattukotta and sexually abused her. Later, the cop also raped the woman claiming that it was in return for allowing them to stay at his residence.
The woman later lodged a complaint with the Naruvamoodu police following which further investigation was handed over to Neyyattinkara DySP. A neighbour, who had tried to intimidate the woman and forced her to change the statement, was also arraigned in the case. However, he committed suicide before the trial commenced.
The case had seen interesting twists as well. The accused approached the High Court to quash the case claiming that the victim had withdrawn her complaint. However, when the court sought a report, it came to light that the victim did not withdraw her complaint following which the trial started at the Neyyattinkara court.