A trial court in Uttar Pradesh‘s Muzaffarnagar district on Tuesday convicted two men accused in a case of gang rape of a Muslim woman during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The accused have been awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and 10,000 rupees fine, LiveLaw reported.
Maheshvir and Sikander are convicted under Section 376(2)(g), 376-D (Gang-rape) and 506 IPC (Criminal Intimidation). The third accused, Kuldeep, died during the course of the trial.
The survivor was reportedly beaten up and raped by three men who lived in her village and were frequent customers of her husband, a tailor.
Her three-month-old son had been held hostage during the incident.
The 2013 anti-Muslim violence resulted in at least 62 deaths including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus. More than 50,000 people, mostly Muslims, were displaced
This verdict is significant as only due to the intervention of the Supreme Court in May 2014, a case of Gang rape was registered against the accused persons in a plea filed by seven women through Senior Advocate Vrinda Grover and Advocate Kamini Jaiswal.
According to LiveLaw, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Anjani Kumar Singh awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and Rs. 10,000/- fine under Section 367D IPC, 10 years of imprisonment under Section 376 (2)(g) IPC and a fine of Rs. 5000/- and 2 years of imprisonment under Section 506 IPC
