NEW DELHI: Six men accused in the gang rape and robbery of a 39-year-old Swiss woman cyclist holidaying in India were sentenced to life terms yesterday by a fast-track court.
“All the accused have been convicted and we are satisfied with the judgement,” said the public prosecutor in the case, Rajendra Tiwari, after the court ruling in central India, the Press Trust of India and other local media reported.
The six sentenced to life were detained soon after the attack on the Swiss woman in mid-March in a remote, forested area of Datia district in central Madhya Pradesh state where the victim was camping with her husband.
Her 30-year-old husband was tied up as the woman was assaulted and the pair were also robbed, according to police.
Only four of the six men were charged with gang-rape because testimony from the victim said two of them were “only present at the crime scene”, according to M L Dhody, a Datia police officer.
The other two accused were charged with assault and robbery but still received life-sentences at the court in Datia district.
Five of the men were farmers in their twenties while the sixth was 19 at the time of the attack, police said.
AFP
