Aizawl, June 17 : A court in Mizoram has sentenced two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel to a combined 42 years of rigorous imprisonment for gang-raping a woman and attacking her with a corrosive substance in 2017, in a case that also involved the unresolved death of her companion.
The Additional District and Sessions Court in Aizawl, presided over by Judge Sylvie Zomuanpuii Ralte, had convicted the two border guards — Nilanjan Das of West Bengal and Dinesh Kumar of Uttar Pradesh — on June 12 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, with the quantum of punishment pronounced on Tuesday. Both men were posted at a BSF camp in Mamit district along the Mizoram-Bangladesh border at the time of the offence.
The court found the two accused guilty under Sections 376D, 376(2)(m), and 326A of the Indian Penal Code. Under Section 376D, dealing with gang rape, both convicts received 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, with an additional 10 years under Section 376(2)(m) for rape causing grievous bodily harm, and 12 years under Section 326A for the acid attack. The court directed that all three sentences run consecutively, bringing the total to 42 years’ rigorous imprisonment for each convict, along with a fine of Rs 60,000 each. Failure to pay the fine would result in two additional months of imprisonment under each count.
The case dates back to July 16, 2017, when the survivor and her companion had gone to a forested area near the Gaskata stream in Silsuri West village to collect crabs and wild vegetables, where they encountered the accused. The survivor testified that the two men forcibly took her to a nearby betel nut plantation, sexually assaulted her, and later poured a corrosive substance on her face, causing severe burns, permanent facial disfigurement, and loss of vision in one eye.
Her companion was found dead near the crime scene several days after the incident, and post-mortem and forensic examinations concluded that she had been murdered. However, the court acquitted both jawans of the murder charge, ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt a complete chain of circumstantial evidence linking them to her death.
The verdict brings closure to one of the more closely watched criminal cases involving security force personnel in the region, nearly nine years after the original incident.
