WhatsApp Chats Stand As Evidence, 3 Sonepat Law Students Convicted Of Gang-Rape.

WhatsApp chat is more powerful and useful than ever!

In a first of sorts instance, a trial court sentenced three law students from OP Jindal Global University in Sonepat (Haryana) after WhatsApp chat served as a crucial evidence.

The main accused Hardik Sikri and his friend Karan Chhabra are sentenced to serve 20 years each in jail, for gang-raping and blackmailing a junior (the victim), who studied at the same university as them. The third guy, Vikas Garg, received a seven-year jail term.

All three convicts are from Delhi and are in prison since April 2015. The girl, who joined the university in August 2013, accused the three-final-year law students of gang rape.

 

The verdict came out on May 24, where additional sessions judge (ASJ) Sunita Grover, reflected that the Whatsapp chats are extremely vulgar.

 

Hardik was found guilty of circulating obscene content as he had circulated nude pictures of the victim amid close friends. And, regularly threatened the girl that if she didn’t do as he pleased, he would upload the nude pictures on the university’s website.

According to the judge, the messages showed that the girl, under duress, acted according to Hardik’s wishes and also continued to share nudes with him. It was revealed that he forced her to purchase and use a sex toy and chat with him over Skype.

 

A Hindustan Times report, read,

“The judge referred to the conversations and said the accused were in a dominating position because they were her seniors and the victim was in a vulnerable state.”

 

And, the girl’s legal advisor, Advocate Prashant Mendiratta, said it was one of the first verdicts that dealt with electronic data.

“The court accepted the evidence because it was original and taken from the girl’s cellphone directly.”

The judge didn’t allow victim’s image to be tarnished and rejected the defence’s plea of the girl being an accomplice.

News Source: Hindustan Times

Cover Image Source 1, 2