An important court ruling sets the stage for trial to begin after 10 years in Ashiana rape case
At 13, she was kidnapped, gang-raped and tortured with lit cigarettes. Ten years on, trial will finally begin in the case after a court today rejected an appeal by the man who, along with five others, allegedly sexually assaulted her in Lucknow.
Accepting the juvenile board's decision, a fast-track court today ruled that Gaurav Shukla, the main accused, was not a minor when the crime was committed, which means he will be tried as an adult. But the accused plans to challenge the verdict in a higher court.
Gaurav has remained free all these years and is married. Activist Madhu Garg of AIDWA describes the girl's long and lonely battle for justice. "She was traumatised after the incident, had nightmares and became withdrawn. She dropped out of school due to fear; in fact she had to be accompanied to public places. It was only after a long time that she regained some confidence," said Ms Garg.
After years of delay, the case was transferred to a special fast track court set up under new stronger laws enacted after the 2012 Delhi gang-rape.
"I have fought for ten years and will continue to fight until I get justice," the survivor, now 23, said.
Two accused have died; two others were sentenced for 10 years and the third was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Months after the incident, which came to be known as the "Ashiana rape case" because of the neighbourhood where the girl lived, the juvenile board declared Gaurav Shukla a minor based on his claim in a separate case.
In 2006, a woman's organization raised funds to hire a lawyer for the survivor, who then challenged Gaurav's claim.
Jalaj Gupta, the lawyer for the rape survivor, said in court that Gaurav used forged school documents to hide his age and his birth certificate proved that he was 18 at the time of the incident.
This case dragged on for four years and in 2010, the court rejected the juvenile board's order.
It took the juvenile board another three years to decide on Gaurav's age and when it did, he challenged the ruling.