Mumbai rape convicts sent to Nashik school for 3 years to learn ‘good behaviour’

Mumbai: The Juveniles Justice Board (JJB) on Tuesday convicted the two juveniles in connection with the Shakti Mill gangrape cases of a photojournalist and a telephone operator and directed them to be sent to Borstal School in Nashik for three years the maximum period the law to learn ‘good behaviour’.

One of the juveniles was arrested in connection with the gangrape of the 22-year-old photojournalist while the other was arrested for the gangrape of the 18-year-old telephone operator.

Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who also appeared as a prosecutor against adult accused in the same case, said the JJB on Tuesday convicted both the youths and ordered to send them to the Nashik school in.

Advocate Dayanand Desai, defending the convict in the gangrape the photojournalist, said, “I would discuss with my clients to decide about filing an appeal challenging this judgement in the High Court.” He also said that both the convicts would be made to study and taught skilled labour so that when they come out of the school they would be able to earn their livelihood and live as responsible citizens.

According to Mr. Desai, when judge asked the accused, after their conviction, if they wanted to say anything, they started crying and said they did not do anything. They requested the judge to send them to the David Sassoon School in Matunga as it is Mumbai and their family members would be able to meet them often.

The judge said they could have been sent to the Goa school but considering that one of the convict’s parents is not there and his grandmother is very old and the family of both the convicts stay in Mumbai, they were being sent to the Nashik School. “The board has directed the authorities to submit monthly reports about these convicts to the board regularly,” he added.

The sessions court had on April 4 awarded capital punishment to three convicts — Vijay Jadhav (19), Kasim Bengali (21) and Mohammed Salim Ansari (28) — in connection with both the gangrape cases. Besides, two convicts, Ashfaque Sheikh and Siraj Rehman, were awarded life imprisonment for their involvement in the telephone operator and photojournalist gangrape cases, respectively.?