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Convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape case move HC against 10-year jail term for robbery

News Agencies | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:49 IST

Of the four convicts in the 16 December Delhi gangrape case, three moved the Delhi High Court on 29 May, appealing against the 10-year jail term awarded to them by a trial court in a case involving robbery and dacoity.

Six persons - including Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh and Vinay Sharma - had beaten up and robbed carpenter Ram Adhar before raping and brutally assaulting a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in south Delhi on the night of December 16, 2012. Thirteen days after the assault, she was transferred to a hospital in Singapore for emergency treatment, but succumbed to her injuries. The case, referred to as the 'Nirbhaya gangrape', sent shockwaves across the country.

Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay were awarded death penalty on 10 September 2013 by a trial court in the gangrape and murder case which was later confirmed by Delhi High Court on 13 March 2014. Their appeals are pending before the Supreme Court.

As per the charge sheet in the robbery case, the police had alleged that bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay, along with the juvenile, had snatched the 35-year-old carpenter's mobile phone and Rs 1,500 after luring him into the bus.

Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma, who were convicted for dacoity and dishonestly receiving stolen property, have alleged that the trial court's order was "bad in law" and "against the principle of natural justice".

On 2 September 2015, the trial court had also awarded 10-year imprisonment to convict Mukesh, saying the convicts "do not deserve any leniency".

It had also imposed a fine of Rs 1.01 lakh each on the four convicts, who are currently lodged in Tihar jail.

In their appeal, filed through advocate AP Singh, the convicts have sought the setting aside of the trial court's decision saying the judgement did not pay "heed towards facts produced by the accused persons during the trial of the case".

The plea stated that the prosecution has failed to prove its case and had not placed any material evidence, which could point to their guilt.

"Trial court had passed order (conviction and sentence) without applying its judicial mind and without taking into consideration the facts and documents placed by the convicts on record and has wrongly relied upon the version of the complainant," the convicts have said in their appeal.

They have sought bail during pendency of their appeals.

Of the six convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape, accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail on 11 March 2013 and proceedings against him were abated.

On 31 August 2013, the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Board sentenced the minor accused in the case to a three-year stay in a special home. The juvenile, now 20-year-old, was recently released from the reformation home.

--PTI

First published: 29 May 2016, 12:40 IST