GUWAHATI: A Mizoram court sentenced two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, convicted in a nine-year-old case of rape and acid attack, to undergo 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Additional District and Sessions Judge-I, Aizawl judicial district, Sylvie Zomuanpuii Ralte, held the duo – Nilanjan Das and Dinesh Kumar – guilty of offences punishable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 376D (gang rape), 376(2)(m) (aggravated form of rape), and 326A (acid attack).
The two convicts were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 20 years, 10 years and 12 years under IPC Sections 376D, 376(2)(m) and 326A, respectively, and pay a fine of Rs 20,000 each.
They will further undergo a simple imprisonment for two months if they fail to pay the fine.
All the substantive sentences shall run concurrently. The period of detention, already undergone by the two during investigation and trial, will be set off, the court said in its June 12 judgement.
On July 18, 2017, a man filed an FIR with the police in Mizoram’s Mamit district, alleging that on July 16 between 11 am and 5 pm, his sister had gone towards a river along with her friend for collecting crabs and wild vegetables, when she was apprehended by two strangers who subjected her to gang rape, and attacked her with a “corrosive substance” causing grievous injuries to her face.
The victim was subsequently examined and found in a severely injured condition with her face swollen and eyes affected due to chemical burns, the court said.
In her statement recorded with the help of an interpreter, the victim alleged that she was accosted by two men in BSF uniform who were earlier seen carrying a tiffin box. She stated that both raped her one after another before applying a burning substance on her face, causing severe pain and loss of vision.
After a medical examination, the doctor opined that the injuries suggested an attempt to disfigure or blind the victim and that the findings were consistent with recent forceful sexual intercourse.
During the investigation, the investigating officer obtained duty details of the BSF personnel. From the duty roster, the two convicted personnel were identified as having been assigned the duty of carrying food on the date and time proximate to the occurrence.
Later, after extensive search operations, the police recovered the body of the victim’s friend who was missing. Though the body was in a decomposed state, the surrounding circumstances and forensic indications suggested that her death was not accidental but homicidal in nature, connected to the same incident.
Meanwhile, on September 5 that year, a test identification parade was conducted by a judicial magistrate in Aizawl, during which the victim identified the two accused. Subsequently, both were arrested.
“Their biological samples, including blood and smegma, were collected and sent for forensic examination. The FSL reports, though not detecting seminal stains on the victim’s clothes or swabs (which was attributed to delay and washing), indicated the presence of corrosive substances and supported the prosecution's case regarding the use of chemical agents,” the court said.
“Further forensic analysis of tissue samples from the deceased…revealed that the damage was caused by a corrosive substance (base), thereby strengthening the prosecution's case that the same perpetrators were involved in both the sexual assault on the victim and the homicidal death…” the court further said.
Out of the 19 witnesses cited in the charge-sheet, 18 were examined during the course of the trial.
