Rapist and wife convicted after 15 yrs of crime

New Delhi, Mar 22 (UNI) A sessions court here today convicted a man and his wife in a 15-year-old rape case in Maharashra.

Additional Sessions Judge B R Kedia held the man, Ravindra Brijmohan Prasad, and his wife, Krishanlata, guilty under sections 376 and 324 of the Indian Penal Code, punishable for a minimum of 10-year imprisonment or up to life imprisonment, and sections 324, 325 of the IPC, punishable for a minimum of two-year imprisonment, respectively.

According to the prosecution, the victim, a 11-year-old girl hailing from Jharkhand, was repeatedly raped for two years, at Raigarh in Maharashtra since 1992. Whenever she approched Ravindra's wife, who abetted her husband in crime, for help, the latter inflicted deep wounds with blade, leaving scars on her body.

Besides, the employer would give her burns with cigarette butts.

When the victim returned to her home in 1993, she narrated her tale of woes to her parents, who, in turn, took her to the police.

The Officer-in-Charge, according to the prosecution, refused to register a case, asking them to contact the Maharashtra police.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took up the matter and got a case registered in Maharashtra on November 7, 1993. The chargesheet was filed on November 9, 1994.

The NHRC also approched the Supreme Court to transfer the case from Maharashtra to Delhi court on December 8, 1996. The charges were framed on November 4, 1997.

The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced tomorrow.

UNI