Mumbai: The Mumbai sessions court on Thursday held guilty three convicts of the Shakti Mills photojournalist gangrape case, under the amended Section 376(e) of the IPC which allows death penalty in cases of repeat offence of gangrape.
Principal sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi is expected to pronounce the sentence on Friday. Though the court has convicted four accused for gangraping on the victim, only Vijay Jadhav, 19, Kasim Bngali, 21, and Mohammed Salim Ansari, 28, were held guilty for repeated offence.
This is the first time in the country that Section 376(e) has been applied. These three accused were also convicted by the same court for raping a telephone operator.
The judge rejected the defence argument that the accused were already convicted under Section 376 (d) so they cannot be held guilty under Section 376 (e). She explained that the section does not constitute any independent or separate offence but provides for enhancement of the sentence for those who are previously convicted.
The court also rejected the defence argument that the section is only applicable if the accused commits the offence after he is convicted. The court also observed that under Section 376 (d) (gang-rape) the minimum punishment is 20 years and the maximum is life. “Under the provision of 376(e) it is therefore not expected that the convict will go in (to jail), come out and then will commit an offence,” the court said.
