A Delhi court on Saturday while convicting two men Manoj and Pradeep in the 2013 Gudiya gang rape case held that the crime committed was "most grotesque" and the "collective conscience of the community was shaken"."In our society the minor girls are worshipped as goddess on certain occasions but in the present case the victim child, who was aged about five years at time of incident had experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality."The crime against the victim was committed in a most grotesque and revolting manner and the collective conscience of the community was shaken," the court said.
Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra convicted the two men under sections 366, 342, 376 D, 201, 307, 372(2) of the Indian Penal Code and certain sections of the POCSO Act.On April 15, 2013, the five-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang raped by her neighbour and his friend in east Delhi's Gandhi Nagar. The victim and her family were staying in the same building as the accused.The accused had also inserted foreign objects in her private parts leading to grievous injuries. The minor was found two days later, on April 17 from a neighbour's rented accommodation where the crime took place. She was in an unconscious state and was admitted to Delhi's AIIMS in a critical state. Delhi Police had then registered a case and charged them for attempt to murder and rape among other things.Kumar had allegedly confined the girl in his room for at least two days and brutally raped her. Accused Manoj Kumar was apprehended from his in-law's village in Bihar and second accused was arrested later on.
( With inputs from IANS )