Park Street rape case: 3 accused sentenced for 10 years

While the incident had triggered a civil society outrage after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called it a fabricated case aimed at maligning her government, the law finally caught up with three of the accused.

However, main accused Kader Khan remained a fugitive along with another offender, Ali.

Suzette Jordan, who died this March from meningitis, was raped inside a car accosted by five men who befriended her in a bar on the night of Feb 5, 2012 in the city's nightlife hub Park Street.

Creating a major movement in the society , Suzette, the mother of two, revealed her identity to the world on June 19, 2013 and marched on the streets of Kolkata to protest against a series of rapes and murders in the state.

Nearly four years after the incident, the Bankshall Court in Kolkata on Thursday convinced three accused- Nasir Khan, Ruman Khan and Sumit Bajaj- who were arrested earlier.

In an in camera session, judge Chiranjib Bhattacharya on Friday sentenced them for ten years under IPC section 376-2(g) and slapped a fine of 1 lakh rupees each and the rupees will be given to the daughters of the victim.

Surprisingly, the public prosecutors did not demand for the maximum term imprisonment for the accused.

When was asked about this, public prosecutor Amalendu Chakraborty avoided to answer and special public prosecutor Sharbani Roy left the court without giving any comment.

Meanwhile, the accused on Friday told the court that they were innocent and being dragged.

However, no family member of the victim was present at the court on Friday.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)