Judicial commissioner of Ranchi civil court Navneet Kumar on Monday awarded life imprisonment to the 11 convicts for the gang-rape of a law student on November 26, 2019 under Kanke police station limits.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on each one of them. The money will be given to the survivor as compensation.

On February 26, the court had held all of 11 accused guilty. Of the 12 youths who were arrested, one is a minor. He is facing trial before the Juvenile Justice Board.

“The court has mentioned that the convicts will have to remain in jail all their life. It was a brutal case of sexual assault in which the court today gave an exemplary punishment,” general secretary of Ranchi District Bar Association Sanjay Bidrohi, who was present during the hearing of the case, said on Monday.

Bidrohi said the court awarded the 11 life imprisonment under Section 376 D (gang-rape) and 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 366 (kidnapping a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.

The convicts — Kuldeep Oraon, Sunil Oraon, Sandeep Tirkey, Ajay Munda, Rajan Oraon, Naveen Oraon, Basant Kacchap, Ravi Oraon, Rohit Oraon, Sunil Munda and Rishi Oraon — were presented before the court through video-conferencing.

Equating the case with the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder that shocked the country and resulted in rape laws being changed, the prosecution on Monday demanded harsh punishment for all the 11 convicts.

The defence lawyer requested leniency, pointing out that all the convicts were barely in their 20s and had no criminal background.

The convicts can appeal against the verdict in the high court.

Jharkhand director-general of police (DGP) Kamal Nayan Choubey, Chhotanagpur range deputy inspector-general of police Amol Venukant Homkar, Ranchi senior superintendent of police Anish Gupta and many senior police officers were present in the court.

“This was a barbaric crime,” the DGP said.

“I am satisfied that the police acted quickly and arrested all the accused within 12 hours after the FIR was lodged.

“I have great respect for the victim. She is a bold and fearless girl who lodged an FIR and showed courage during investigation and trial of the case.

“She identified the accused during the test identification parade and boldly faced the court during cross-examination. The police carried out an impeccable investigation and the prosecution presented the case before the court strongly. The case reached its logical conclusion only because of the victim, the prosecution and the speedy investigation,” DGP Choubey added.

Dial a rapist

The gang-rape of the law student had sparked outrage in the state and beyond.

The incident took place at Sangrampur in Kanke where the woman and her friend were sitting at a bus stop on the evening of November 26.

Seven youths in a car and two more on a bike intercepted and assaulted them.

They beat up the woman’s friend and dragged the girl to a brick kiln.

There, they called up three more youths.

All of them raped her in turns, one among them assaulting her twice.

The woman’s friend was beaten up but managed to escape and inform mutual friends and the police.

Later, he identified Sunil Oraon and Sandeep Tirkey as the ones who thrashed him.

An FIR was lodged a day after the incident and the police soon nabbed the rapists.