Now Reading: Death penalty sought for 5 in 2024 Bhayli gang rape case
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Death penalty sought for 5 in 2024 Bhayli gang rape case
The prosecution on Tuesday sought the death penalty or, alternatively, life imprisonment for five men convicted of gang-raping a 16-year-old girl during the Navratri festival in Vadodara's Bhayli area in October 2024.
The prosecution on Tuesday sought the death penalty or, alternatively, life imprisonment for five men convicted of gang-raping a 16-year-old girl during the Navratri festival in Vadodara's Bhayli area in October 2024.
District government pleader Anil Desai told the court that the maximum punishment was sought given the manner of the offence. The defence argued for minimum punishment, saying the convicts were married with families. The Vadodara POCSO court fixed August 31 to pronounce the sentence.
The five convicts, Munna Abbas Banjara, Mumtaz alias Aftab Banjara, Shahrukh Banjara, Saif Ali Banjara and Ajmal Banjara, were convicted on August 20. The prosecution examined 45 witnesses and relied on CCTV footage and medical evidence during the trial.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The demand for the death penalty under the POCSO Act is rare and reserved for the 'rarest of rare' cases, as the Supreme Court has held. The court's sentencing decision on August 31 will test how that threshold applies to a gang rape with no murder, the victim survived. The convicts, all in their early twenties and working as labourers, face either execution, life imprisonment, or a fixed term. The judge's reasoning on proportionality will set a benchmark for similar POCSO cases in Gujarat.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
