Five Men Found Guilty of Gang-Raping Danish Tourist in New Delhi

A court has convicted five men of gang-raping a Danish tourists in New Delhi in 2014, a crime that put India's record on sexual violence in the spotlight.

The five were found guilty of the rape and robbery of the 52-year-old woman, who was attacked at knifepoint after losing her way while returning to her hotel.

"I pronounce all the accused guilty. Arguments (on sentencing) to be held on june 9," the additional sessions judge Ramesh Kumar told the court in Delhi, where media and relatives of the accused had gathered.

Three others charged over the attack are being tried separately in the juvenile justice system. A ninth accused, an adult, died before the end of the trial.

Under new tougher laws the minimum punishment for gang rape is 20 years," imprisonment along with a fine, while the maximum is life imprisonment.

The woman, travelling alone after visiting the Taj Mahal, had approached a group of men for directions as she returned to an area popular with backpackers, reports at the time said.

The assault was the latest in a series of sex attacks on foreigners that reignited concerns about women's safety in India.

Shortly before the attack on the Danish woman, a Polish woman had been drugged and raped as she travelled to Delhi with her young daughter in a car.

The Indian government thoughened jail sentences for rapists and overhauled policing procedures in the wake of the gang rape of a Delhi student on a moving bus in December 2012. She later died in a Singapore hospital.

That attack sparked mass street protests over high levels of violence against women, as well as global headlines about the treatment of women in India.

The five accused showed little emotion as the verdicts were read out. Neither the victim nor members of her family were in court.

Immediately after the incident, the victim had given a detailed statement to police at the Danish embassy in Delhi before leaving for home.

She returned to India in July 2015 to record her in-camera testimony before the trial court judge, and identify the accused.

The prosecution submitted that the evidence irrefutably proved the case against the accused but the suspects pleaded not guilty, claiming they had been framed by police.



source:
The Guardian