Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Oct 10: It has been almost two-and-a-half years since the gang-rape of a medical student in Manipal, and now, the verdict on the case is expected in the next few days.
The court is expected to pronounce its judgment on the gang-rape case on October 15.
File Photo
The incident had occurred on June 20, 2013 when a medical student at Manipal was kidnapped by three in an auto-rickshaw at night and gang-raped. The three accused allegedly took the victim to a secluded area near Ontibettu village, 6 kilometres away from Manipal city. The case had shook the entire state and forced the government to step security for women especially in colleges.
Yogish Poojary (30), a resident of Ontibettu village near Hiriyadka, Hariprasad Poojary (27), a resident of Badagubettu, Parkala village and Anand (28) from Sannakkibettu Parkala are the main accused in the case. They were arrested a week of the incident, after a massive manhunt by the police and constant media pressure.
Balachandra (brother of Yogish) and Harindra (brother of Hariprasad) were also arrested in this case for attempting to destroy the evidences. However, they were released on bail later.
There were 108 witnesses in the case, out of which 62 witnesses have been examined. The defense counsel has had less evidences than the public prosecutor.
Speaking to daijiworld, public prosecutor T S Jithuri said, "The district and session court judge Shivshankar B Amarannavar has given judgment date as Thursday, October 15. There is a chance that it may be put off for another date. Once the verdict is pronounced, it will take a week to get the judgment copy from the court."
To a question on the delay in the case, he said, "at the very beginning, the defense counsel had approached the high court of Karnataka and then the state approached the Supreme Court. In the midst of all this, advocate Purushotham Poojary who was the defence lawyer, passed away in May 2014 and then the accused had to get a new lawyer from Mangaluru. These were the reasons for the delay in the process."
Defence lawyer Prabhakar Acharya told daijiworld, "It has been a very tough case to deal with right from the beginning. The prosecution had very strong evidences."
He produced 12 witnesses in the case, out which five witness have been examined in the court.
The trial in the case began in September 2013, three months after the incident.
Case Recall: