Woman Among 4 Sentenced To 20 Years In Jail For Gang-Rape Of Minor Dalit Girl In Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi

A POCSO court convicted four people, including a woman, in a 2018 gang-rape case of a minor Dalit girl and sentenced them to 20 years imprisonment.

A Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi on Thursday (September 28) convicted four people, including a woman, in a 2018 gang-rape case of a minor Dalit girl and sentenced them to 20 years imprisonment.

In April 2018, a 15-year-old Dalit girl was lured to a secluded place by Savita Prajapati. She then called three men who raped her, the report said.

Additional District Government Counsel Ramesh Chandra Tripathi said: "The court of Special Judge (POCSO Act) Utkarsh Yadav convicted Prajapati (45), Bhaiyyan (25), Gorelal (28), Bablu (26). They were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 30,000 was imposed on each convict," as reported by PTI. 

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court granted bail to a 75-year-old man convicted in a 1983 rape and murder case, despite the fact that the trial took 40 years to complete.

Noting the case's "unusual feature," the Supreme Court asked the Calcutta High Court to give the man's appeal against his conviction "out of turn priority," PTI reported. 

According to the report, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal stated that the top court should not normally issue a directive to a constitutional court or any other court to set a date for deciding a case.

"However, this case is notable in that the trial took forty years to complete." "As a result, we request that the high court give out-of-turn priority to the resolution of the appeal in accordance with law," the bench said in an order issued on September 25.

The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal filed by the man challenging the high court's May 17 order that denied his bail application.

While noting that the appellant was the victim's maternal uncle, the high court stated that "we do not consider it appropriate to suspend the appellant's sentence in light of the material on record and the gravity of the offence," as per the report. 

According to the report, the high court noted in its order that the case involves the brutal rape and murder of a girl who was discovered strangulated in a room. While issuing its order, the Supreme Court stated that the incident occurred in 1983 and that there are "reasons and reasons why the trial was delayed."