Indian court convicts four men in gang rape of photojournalist in Mumbai
A string of sex crimes have triggered street protests across India [AFP]A court has convicted four men of gang raping a photojournalist in India\’s financial capital of Mumbai last year.
The men have been found guilty of five offences, including gang rape, unnatural sex and destruction of evidence. Sentencing is set for Friday.
The 22-year-old woman was attacked by five men while on assignment in a deserted mill in August.
The fifth accused, believed to be under 18 at the time of the incident, is being tried in a juvenile court.
Maharashtra state Home Minister RR Patil, who was in court for Thursday\’s verdict, said justice had been done.
"The verdict will send a message to the other offenders. It will be a deterrent," Patil said.
Days after the incident, another woman revealed that three of those men had also raped her in July.
According to NDTV, the four men convicted by a Mumbai court on Thursday were Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali, Salim Ansari and Siraj Rehman. Another accused, a minor, is being tried in a juvenile court.
The men, all unemployed, lived in a slum near the mill.
The assault on the photo-journalist shocked the nation, already reeling from the brutal gang-rape of a medical student in the capital New Delhi.
The rape triggered street protests across the nation and forced the federal government to push through stringent laws against such crimes.
Source: Agencies
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