A 22-year-old Bangladeshi woman who was gang-raped and brutally assaulted in eastern Bengaluru last year has been sent back home, senior police officers said.
The deportation order came on May 21, a day after a fast-track court in the city convicted seven of the 12 accused.
Speaking to DH, S D Sharanappa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said the gang-rape survivor was escorted to the Bangladesh border by a team of Bengaluru police and deported from there.
The woman was trafficked into India by her tormentors on a job promise but was forced into prostitution. She was gang-raped in a house in Ramamurthy Nagar on May 27, 2021. The assault would have remained under wraps but for a video recorded by her tormentors. The video went viral in northeastern India and in Bangladesh before eventually reaching Bengaluru and prompting the police to act.
A special team tracked down the suspects within days.
Police initially struggled to trace the survivor who was in Kozhikode in Kerala back then. She was unwilling to testify because she didn't know how the Indian law works and didn't want to get into further trouble with her assaulters. But police managed to take her into confidence and promised her full protection and speedy justice.
She was brought to Bengaluru and her statement was taken. Police also recreated the crime scene (mahazar). Police asked for the trial in a fast-track court and filed a 1,019-page charge sheet within 28 days of registering the case.
Veeranna Tigadi, a special public prosecutor, argued the case. After a trial that lasted just over three months, 53rd Additional City Civil and Sessions judge N Subramanya pronounced the verdict on May 20.
The court awarded a rigorous life sentence to seven accused — Sobuj alias Chand Miya, Hridoy Babu alias Mohammed Rifakdul Islam, Rafsan Mandal alias Mohammed Alamin Hossein, Rakibul Islam Sagar, Mohammed Babu Sheik, Mohammed Dalim and Ajim Hossain.
A woman accused named Thania Khan was handed 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
Mohammed Jamal, another accused who was charged with illegally staying and supporting the gang, was awarded five years in jail. Two more women — Nusrat and Kajal — got nine months' jail term each for not revealing the crime despite knowing about it. The 12th accused turned approver. The survivor testified in court for three days.
On the court's directions, authorities took the victim to the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office (FRRO).
On May 20, she was taken to West Bengal and deported the next day, a senior police officer said. Until her deportation, the survivor was housed in the state women's home.