Three of the five men who gangraped a Japanese tourist near the holy town of Bodh Gaya in Bihar a month ago were on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast-track court that delivered the verdict just 26 days after hearings began, thus making it one of the fastest trials.
Uday Kumar, Anuj Kumar alias Lutan and Pappu Kumar were convicted for the gangrape of the 25-year-old Japanese woman on April 16 evening when she was travelling in an autorickshaw from the Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya to Gaya railway station. Two other accused — Rajan Yadav and Pintu Yadav — are still absconding. Their properties have been attached.
Gaya district and sessions judge Jayant Kumar Sen, who delivered the verdict, also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the accused and said, “Their acts have immensely harmed the reputation of Bihar and the nation as a whole.”
Trial in the case had started on April 21 after the police submitted a chargesheet following the arrest of three of the five accused and the tourist identified them a day later when they were produced in court. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had recommended that the trial be conducted by a fast-track court for speedy disposal and sentencing.
“The verdict, coming in record time, saved much of Bihar’s tourist-friendly character from harm,” said prosecution lawyer Vimal Kishor Prasad. Just two days after she arrived in Bihar, the Japanese tourist, a resident of Itabolutachi in Tokyo, went through the trauma. She was dragged out of the auto-rickshaw at an isolated place between the two Buddhist holy towns and gang-raped by the five accused, including the autorickshaw driver. The incident, coming just four days after an American tourist alleged an attempt of rape by a godman in Rishikesh, had added another blow to India’s deteriorating reputation as a nation friendly and safe to foreign tourists. It bore ominous portents for tourism in Bihar, where the bulk of the tourists come to see the Buddhist heritage sites.