Temple employees get 40 years in jail for raping woman devotee

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MATHURA: A fast-track court has sentenced two employees of a temple here to 40 years' rigorous imprisonment for raping a woman devotee from Odisha in September last year.

Judge Vivekanand Saran Tripathi also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the two employees -- Kanhaiya and Rajendra -- of Shri Radha Rani Temple in Barsana, according government counsel Praveen Kumar Singh.

The duo raped the widow, who was staying at the temple, at September 11 night inside the guard room, Singh said.

According to him, the victim turned hostile during the course of the trial. After CCTV footage was produced in the court, the woman said that she had pardoned the accused.

The judge, however, sentenced the duo on the basis of the CCTV footage and the woman's statement.

The judge awarded 40 years' rigorous imprisonment to each of the two accused for gang rape under Section 376(d) of the IPC.

He also sentenced both the accuse to five years' rigorous imprisonment for house trespass under section 457 of the IPC and six years' rigorous imprisonment under IPC section 195 (A) for threatening any person to give false evidence.

All the sentences would run concurrently.