Muzaffarnagarss, May 09, 2023 (PPI-OT): A district court has sentenced two men to 20 years in prison for gang-raping a Muslim woman during anti-Muslim riots in Muzaffarnagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in 2013. Additional District Sessions judge A K Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 each on the convicts, Maheshvir and Sikander. As per the prosecution, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had filed a chargesheet against three persons – Kuldeep, Maheshvir and Sikander – in the court. Kuldeep died during the trail of the case.

Seven witnesses, including the victim, were examined in the court during the course of the trail. As per a complaint lodged with the police, the woman (26) was gang-raped by three men after putting a knife to the throat of her minor son and threatening her of dire consequences in the Phugana area during the riots in September 2013. The anti-Muslim pogrom resulted in at least 62 deaths including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus. More than 50,000 people, mostly Muslims, were displaced

This verdict is significant as only due to the intervention of the Indian Supreme Court in May 2014, a case of Gang rape was registered against the perpetrators of this heinous crime in a plea filed by seven women through Senior Advocate Vrinda Grover and Advocate Kamini Jaiswal.

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