New Delhi, February 23: Noting that the rapists and the victim have reached a compromise and the incident was 14 years old, the Supreme Court has let off three rapists for the crime.
A bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra in an order, while upholding the conviction of the trio for the rape, however, said the sentence of 10 years awarded to them is reduced to three-and-half years, the period of imprisonment already undergone.
The apex court further directed the convicts Baldev Singh, Gurmail Singh and Hardeep Singh, all said to be farmers who had gangraped the victim in Punjab’s Ludhiana district on March 5, 1997, to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 each to the victim as fine.
The apex court said though rape was not a compoundable (compromise/fine) offence, yet in exceptional circumstances, courts can reduce the minimum sentence of 10 years.
-Agencies