Nearly a decade after the gangrape of a woman and her 14-year-old daughter during a highway robbery there in 2016, an incident that triggered nationwide outrage, a court in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Monday sentenced all five convicts to life imprisonment.
Additional District Government Counsel (ADGC) Varun Kaushik confirmed the verdict, saying, “…All five convicts have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the court today, and the court has also sent a message that such criminals should be kept away from society… In 2016, a rape and robbery incident took place on the Dostpur highway… The perpetrators committed the heinous act of gang-raping the mother and daughter. The most crucial evidence in this case was that the DNA of one of the criminals was found on the victim’s mother’s clothes. A charge sheet was filed against six criminals, one of whom died in jail during the trial in 2019…”
Crime on NH-91 had sparked nationwide outrage
The case dates back to 2016, when six members of a Noida-based family were travelling by car to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Their vehicle was intercepted by armed assailants at Dostpur village on National Highway 91 in Bulandshahr.
According to the prosecution, a group of five to six men stopped the car at gunpoint, looted cash and jewellery, and forcibly took the family to nearby fields. The assailants then dragged the 13-year-old girl and her mother away from the rest of the family and raped them.
The incident had triggered widespread public anger and criticism over the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, drawing attention across the country.
Investigation, identification and trial
The case involved charges of rape, dacoity, wrongful confinement and penetrative sexual assault on a minor. During the investigation, the victims and their family members identified the accused after being shown around 50 photographs of suspected criminals from the region.
Investigators said forensic evidence played a crucial role in securing the conviction, particularly DNA evidence recovered from the victim’s clothing. A chargesheet was filed against six accused, though one of them died in jail in 2019 while the trial was underway.
With todays verdict, the court brought closure to one of the most disturbing criminal cases in the state, nearly nine years after the crime that had shaken public conscience.