NEW DELHI: A wheelchair-bound neck down paralysed woman, who was brutally raped, gangraped, tortured and illegally confined for seven-months, has moved the Supreme Court seeking immediate access to medical treatment and rehabilitative support and justice.
Senior lawyer Shobha Gupta, representing the petitioner, told this newspaper that the repeated acts of gruesome sexual violence inflicted by the accused on the 34-year-old bedridden neck down disabled survivor is barbaric and inhuman.
The petitioner was wheelchair-bound and suffering from partial disability when she came in contact with the accused.
“The dehumanising sexual slavery and brutality subjected on the petitioner further 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, who was representing the petitioner along with other advocates Dhiraj Philip, Namrata Mahapatra and Achalika Ahuja.
The petitioner-survivor, has been disowned by both her immediate and extended family, and is wholly without any form of familial support or care.
In her plea the woman has requested for urgent medical support as well as directions to the Centre and state govt for rehabilitative support through financial assistance to enable her to live with dignity.
On May 23, the HC directed admitting her in the AIIMS, New Delhi, for urgent medical treatment and care.
As per the plea, the survivor has been subjected to sexual violence with unspeakable brutality, inhumanity for 7-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 is lodged in Hoshiarpur jail.
He first came into contact with her through a cab ride-booking application. 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 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 the crime. The petitioner continues to suffer physically, psychologically, emotionally and socially, while also facing continuous threats.
Also in top court
Plea against Assam deportation drive
A plea has been filed in the SC alleging that the Assam government has reportedly launched a “sweeping and indiscriminate drive” to detain and deport persons suspected to be foreigners without nationality verifications. It directed Assam to initiate process of deportation of 63 declared foreigners.