Four get life in jail for murder, sexual harassment in Mumbai
An Indian court on Thursday ruled four people in Mumbai to serve life in prison for killing two men who, in 2011, tried to protect female friends from being molested.
Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Keenan Santos, 24, and Reuben Fernandez, 29, had objected when the four men tried to sexually harass some women accompanying the pair of men.
The group of four men then left, only to come back with a larger group armed with knives.
They then repeatedly stabbed the young men, Santos died the same day, Fernandez 10 days later.
The murders shocked Mumbai because they took place on a busy street with several bystanders.
“The four men convicted Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulgaj and Dipak Tival were sentenced to imprisonment for the rest of their lives.
“They can appeal against their sentence in a higher court,’’ Nikam added.
The issue of sexual harassment has been in the limelight in India since the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in the Indian capital in December 2012.
Report says India introduced tougher anti-rape laws after the Delhi case, but activists say little has changed in attitudes towards sexual assault and add that attacks on women and girls continue unabated.
In a recent case, a 30-year-old woman was found dead at her home in the city of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala on April 28 with signs of strangling and about 30 stab wounds on her body. (dpa/NAN)
