The sessions court in Ajmer has given its verdicts in one of the most wanted criminal cases of gang rape and blackmail and awarded life imprisonment to all the six accused 32 years after the crime was committed. The quantum of punishment does not end with imprisonment, and each of the convicted has also been awarded a fine of ₹5 lakh.
The court convicted Nafees Chishti, Salim Chishti, Iqbal Bhati, Naseem Syed, Zameer Hussain, and Sohil Ghani. This involved 18 men and 9 of the accused, who had already been dealt with in previous trials and appeals sessions.
Earlier, the court had discharged nine other suspects after they were detained and prosecuted for ten years. One of the accused persons, Almas Maharaj, is still an absconder, and another killed himself by hanging after being released on bail. What is more, there is a standing case against one person prosecuted under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
Gang-raping more than 100 college students in 1992, the main accused, Farooq Chishti, was the District President of the Youth Congress at that time. Men drugged and spiked the drinks of the young women and then raped them, most of them in farmhouse parties and restaurants. He would then take pictures of the victims with the intent of continued blackmail, with the victims coerced into bringing other people to these events.
