Horror as woman picking vegetables gang raped – acid then poured over her face

Two Border Security Force soldiers have been sentenced to a collective 42 years behind bars for the rape and attack of a woman picking vegetables. The two BSF members were sentenced in a court in Aizawl district, Mizoram, India, earlier this week.

Nilanjan Das and Dinesh Kumar were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for gang rape, 10 years for rape causing grievous bodily harm, and 12 years for the acid attack. Additional District and Sessions Judge, Sylvie Zomuanpuii Ralte, convicted the border guards on June 12. The court also fined the pair Rs 60,000 (£473) for the crimes.

Das and Kumar, residents of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, raped the woman and attacked her with a corrosive substance near the Gaskata river in Silsuri West village in Mamit district on July 16, 2017.

The victim testified that the two men forcibly took her to a nearby betel nut plantation, sexually assaulted her and later poured a corrosive substance on her face. The substance caused severe burns, permanent facial disfigurement and loss of vision in one eye. The victim’s brother filed a complaint at the Marpara police station two days later.

The victim and a friend, whose body was found nearly two weeks after the rape, had gone to the forest near the Gaskata stream to collect crabs and wild vegetables when they encountered the two guards who had been posted at a nearby BSF camp along the Mizoram-Bangladesh border.

Post-mortem and forensic examinations concluded that the victim’s friend had been murdered, Deccan Herald reported. Her body had been found on July 27, close to the scene of the rape.

The prosecution examined 18 witnesses, including medical experts, investigating officers and locals. The court relied heavily on the survivor’s testimony, which it described as consistent and trustworthy.

The court acquitted both Border Force Patrol members of the murder charge in connection with the death of the victim’s friend.

The judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the two accused were responsible for her death. The absence of a complete chain of circumstantial evidence linking them to the murder was noted by the judge.