Kamduni gang-rape: Three get death, three life imprisonment

“The… punishment will be announced after hearing the convicts on Friday”, she said.

Actor-turned-politician Locket Chatterjee, who had gone to the court Thursday, remarked that it needs to be looked into whether there was a “political intervention” in the two acquittals. Can they return my girl?

They could face the maximum punishment of life sentence.

A Kolkata court on Thursday convicted six people of raping and killing a 20-year-old college student at Kamduni in 24-Pragans district of West Bengal in June 2013.

The gang attacked the university student as she returned home to her village, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Kolkata, in June 2013.

Her mutilated body was discovered the next morning in a corner of the farm.

The other three found guilty face a minimum of 20 years in prison or a maximum of life sentence, the judge had said.

The case triggered public anger and demonstrations demanding better safety for women, after which Ms Banerjee visited the home of the dead student. “We want capital punishment for all of them”, said Mousumi Kayal, a Kamduni resident. Evidence showed she had been repeatedly raped.

Three other accused – Sheikh Emanul Islam, Aminur Islam and Bhola Naskar – were pronounced guilty of gang rape, criminal conspiracy and causing disappearance of evidence, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Saiful Ali, who had accosted the girl on the road and forced her inside a farmhouse where the crime was committed, was additionally found guilty under sections 109 (abetment to an offence) and 342 (wrongfully confining any person). The accused Ansar Ali was nabbed by the villagers and handed over to the police.

Rafiqul Islam and Nur Ali were acquitted, while the ninth accused Gopal Naskar died while the trial was on.

Two other accused, Rafikul Islam Gazi and Noor Ali were acquitted in the case due to lack of evidence.