TURA, March 21 � The Tura Fast Track Court here yesterday convicted six of the 16 people who were accused of gang raping a minor girl. The Williamnagar gang rape had shocked not only the whole State, but the country as well. The rape which has been well documented saw a minor girl of 17 brutally gang raped by 16 boys and men on December 16, 2012, during the Winter Festival at Williamnagar.
Public Prosecutor PL Sebastian said, �This is a major win for us. The eyes of the whole country were on us and we have delivered. The conviction should be a huge deterrent to crimes against women in the future�.
The convicted persons have been identified as Laston Marak, Tobath Marak (Patrick), Platon C Marak, Chengchow D Sangma, Kisen N Marak and Chingkam Ch Marak. The remaining ten rapists being minors will be dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board. Sentencing of the convicted rapists will be done on Monday.
According to the FIR filed by the victim, she along with her friends had gone to see the fashion show at the Winter Festival. While she was returning home, she was chased by the group who hit her with a brick from behind. They then dragged her and began to assault her. When she was almost unconscious, they began to take turns raping her. �I intermittently began to regain consciousness and began to feel the hurt. Recognising one of them as a friend of my brother, I asked why he was doing this. It seems he recognised me and then escorted me home asking me not to say anything about the incident�.
When the incident came to light, the girl faced enormous difficulties and was shuttled between places to ensure her safety.
Jaynie Sangma, an NGO member who helped in the rehabilitation process, said, �This was my first case and I am very happy with the convictions. I hope the law gives them the maximum penalty given the enormity of their misdeeds�.
Rongtalchi G Momin, a resident of Tura said, �We are really happy with the conviction and hope this comes through as a huge lesson to those who even think of committing a crime against women�.
