Satvinder Kaur, the lady prosecutor who represented the State in the 2010 Dhaula Kuan gang-rape case, on Monday said life imprisonment was the only befitting punishment for the five convicts.
“Rape or gang-rape is such a heinous offence that it cannot be matched with any other crime against a human being by another human being,” she said outside the courtroom. Within a distance sat the family of the convicts crying implication and pleading mercy.
“Today, at this stage, I can say I am very satisfied. In today’s scenario, women are being raped every day, every second. Strict punishment would send a message to others that they should refrain from doing so.
“If we show leniency to such criminals, others would also think that they can rape a woman and get away with it,” said Ms. Kaur, who had vehemently argued for maximum punishment of life imprisonment provided in the statute of the offence of gang-rape.
She had argued before the court that family liabilities of convicts should not be considered by the court as everybody has family responsibilities and it was for the convicts and not others to think about their families.
Outside the courtroom, the family of the convicts sat unaware of the life term granted to their men. It was when one of the convicts was being rushed to the dispensary that they got to know about the sentence and began cursing the police. Their cries could be heard across the floor and in every corner of the court building.
Meanwhile, Investigating Officer Inspector Rajkumari was also a satisfied police officer. “We had cracked this case by putting in place pieces of a puzzle and every small link to form a chain. There was so much hue and cry,” she said.
The lady prosecutor said the case was committed to the Sessions court for trial in February 2011. The final arguments began in April 2014. “The statement of the victim ran into 150 pages and the arguments went on for so many months. This shows the effort this case took but I was sure about the conviction and life term,” she said.
