Bulandshahr : Over 11 years after a pregnant woman was gang-raped inside Deoband police station, a fast-track court on Friday sentenced two former policemen—a retired circle officer (CO) and an inspector—to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1.20 lakh each.
Additional district and sessions judge (FTC-II) Prabodh Kumar Verma convicted former Deoband SHO Brijmohan Yadav (later promoted to CO before retiring) and then-inspector Vedpal Singh (currently posted in Firozabad) under IPC sections 376D ( gang rape ) and 506 (criminal intimidation). I have fought for justice for more than 11 years. Rajeev Tomar, the incident stems from July 29, 2015, when police picked up the victim’s husband from Noida under false pretexts, according to the victim’s counsel. What happened to her inside the police station is something our family will never be able to forget. ” On Aug 6, 2015, when the woman visited the police station to check on her husband, four policemen allegedly gang-raped her inside the SHO’s room while threatening her sister-in-law at gunpoint and detaining her mother-in-law. An FIR was finally registered in Nov 2017.
I wanted the court to award them death penalty,” the victim told TOI. Recalling the ordeal, the husband told TOI: “I was running my shop in Noida and had no idea that my life would change so drastically. The victim, who endured a decade-long legal ordeal, expressed dissatisfaction with the quantum of punishment. “I was pregnant and kept pleading with them to let me go. I had gone to the police station only to find out what had happened to my husband. I was subjected to gang rape inside the police station. Police picked me up, kept me at the police station for three days and beat me up. They subsequently sent me to jail in an attempt-to-murder case. My wife was left to run from pillar to post just to find out why I had been arrested. After local police refused to record her complaint, the victim moved Allahabad High Court. Though the Crime Branch-CID initially filed a closure report clearing the cops, the victim successfully challenged it through a protest petition, leading the court to issue non-bailable warrants against the accused.
Tomar noted that the family faced continuous harassment, staged accidents and false cases throughout the 11-year legal battle. Following the verdict, both convicted officers were taken into custody and sent to jail.