NEW DELHI: Hearing the plea of paralysed survivor who was brutally gangraped, tortured and illegally confined for seven months, SC on May 23, directed to admit her to the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) Trauma Centre, New Delhi, for urgent medical treatment and care.
She continues to remain hopeful for justice as she fights for her life.
The survivor in her plea, in the top court, has requested for urgent medical support as well as directions to the Centre and State government for rehabilitative support through financial assistance to enable her to live with dignity.
Senior lawyer Shobha Gupta representing the survivor, exclusively talking to TNIE, said that the ordeal faced by the the 34-year-old woman due to the repeated acts of gruesome sexual violence, including rape, gangrape, physical abuse and torture in illegal confinement, inflicted by the accused is barbaric and inhuman.
The woman was wheelchair bound and suffering from partial disability when the accused came in contact with her.
"The dehumanising sexual slavery and brutality subjected to the petitioner aggravated her medical condition, and she has become paralysed below the neck, with only minor sensation in her fingers. The acts of extreme sexual violence committed on the petitioner by the accused have left her in a state of irreversible physical disability, emotional trauma, and social destitution," said Gupta, representing the petitioner along with other advocates Dhiraj Philip, Namrata Mahapatra and Achalika Ahuja.
The survivor has been disowned by both her immediate and extended family and does not have any form of familial support, care, or protection.
The plea stated that the survivor has been subjected to sexual violence with unspeakable brutality, inhumanity for seven months and was reduced to an inhumane state by the accused, a 52-year-old online-app cab driver.
The accused hails from Jalandhar, Punjab, with known criminal antecedents, and was presently lodged in Hoshiarpur Jail. He first came into contact with her through a cab ride-booking application. Following this, the accused allegedly began stalking the petitioner over several days, kept her in his illegal captivity away isolated the world and subjected her to continuous and aggravated sexual assault over a period of seven months.
Owing to her physical disability, the survivor was rendered helpless and was unable to escape his illegal confinement for seven months.
"Trapped in an illegal confinement and sexual slavery in a condition of total physical handicap, the survivor endured repeated acts of rape, sodomy and physical torture with no opportunity for escape or any contact with the outside world. The sustained brutality inflicted upon her was both systematic and sadistic, leaving her in a state of extreme physical, emotional and psychological pain," the plea said.
It is pertinent to note that after the incident of brutal rape for a continuous period of seven months of illegal confinement, the petitioner's medical condition became severely life threatening.
Following months of medical negligence, repeated rapes in illegal confinement and abandonment, the petitioner was rescued in 2023, by One Stop Centre and an FIR was registered against the accused under Section 376 (Rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in Hoshiarpur, Punjab.
After the completion of the trial, the accused was convicted by the Fast Track Court, Hoshiarpur in January 2025, and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The survivor stated that the accused was granted minimum punishment without taking into account the brutality of crime committed on her. The petitioner continues to suffer physically, psychologically, emotionally and socially, while also facing continuous threats.
She has also sought intervention from the apex court to allow the transfer of the appeal filed by the accused against the conviction, pending before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana to the HC of Delhi, in the interest of justice and physical state of the petitioner.
"The act of rape in illegal confinement, particularly of a physically disabled woman, strikes at the core of Article 21 of the Constitution. It is not just a violation of bodily integrity, but also of dignity, privacy, physical and psychological well-being," the plea said.
The petitioner was residing in Delhi under the care of a friend who had graciously provided her temporary shelter in the absence of any medical or familial support.