Ashiana gangrape: 1 more convicted

A local court on Monday convicted Faizan, one of the accused in the case of the gangrape of a minor which took place in Ashiana locality in May 2005. Faizan, who was out on bail, was immediately taken into custody.

The court of Sessions Judge Akhilesh Dubey, which held Faizan guilty, is likely to pronounce the sentence tomorrow. Assistant District Government Counsel J P Singh said: "Tomorrow, arguments will take place over the quantum of punishment and later the court would pronounce the sentence."

A resident of Nishatganj, Faizan had earlier claimed that he was a minor at the time of the incident. The Juvenile Justice Board, however, turned down his claim and declared him major.

The case dates back to May 2, 2005 when four youths kidnapped the girl from the posh Ashiana locality and gangraped her in a moving car. They also beat her and branded her with cigarette butts on her limbs. Later, they took the girl to a farmhouse, belonging to one of the accused, and again took turns to rape her. Two others also joined them at the farmhouse. One of the accused threatened the girl with a pistol as she was "making noise".

After abusing her for around two hours, the accused dropped the girl on a deserted street in the night. The victim, with the help of passersby, reached home and informed her parents about the ordeal. The parents lodged an FIR and the police found involvement of six persons and arrested them.

Two of the accused, Aman Bakshi and Bhartendu Mishra, were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a local court in 2007, while two others, Saurabh Jain and Asif Siddiqui, died in a road accident. The fifth accused Gaurav Shukla, who also claimed that he was a minor, was declared major by the Juvenile Justice Board on January 15. His case was committed for trial today, the victim's lawyer Jalaj Gupta said.

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