KOZHIKODE: Marad Special Additional Sessions Court has sentenced the first three accused in the rape case of a Bangladeshi woman to imprisonment. The first accused, A.B Noufal (30) of Thrikaripur, Kasargod has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment of varying terms and slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000.
The second and third accused, Suhail Thangal (44) of Muttil, Wayand and his wife Ambika alias Sajitha (35) have been given five years and three years jail respectively and each slapped with a fine of Rs 25,000.
The Judge S. Krishnakumar let off accused number four to eight citing lack of evidence. The fine amount should be given to the Bangladeshi woman through the Indian High Commissioner’s Office in Bangladesh. According to the prosecution, the woman who was forcibly kept in an apartment at Eranjipalam here ran out of the flat last May 28 and informed the police. She was subjected to rape for nine continuous days and several persons exploited her.
The 34-year-old victim has a husband and three children in her home country. After a quarrel with her husband, she set off to Mumbai to visit Haji Ali Dargah. In India, she got acquainted with Noufal and he lured her to Kerala offering a job in the sales field.
But she was trapped and brought to the apartment where Suhail Thangal and his wife were running the flesh trade. She tried to commit suicide while being sheltered at the government women’s home at Vellimadukunnu. The victim was repatriated to her home country after completing legal procedures.
She had narrated her ordeal in the form of a book ‘Njaan enna murivu’ (The wound I am) and conducted an exhibition of the paintings she had drawn. The additional public prosecutor Adv. C. Sugathan appeared for the prosecution.
