New Delhi: Three youth, including a brother of a national team hockey player and a son of an ex-police officer, have been jailed for 10 years by a Delhi court for kidnapping and gangraping a 15-year-old girl in a moving car here.

Additional Sessions Judge M C Gupta handed down the jail term to 28-year-old Manjeet Singh, an MBA final-year student and brother of the hockey player, 26-year-old Sandeep Yadav, son of the former Delhi Police officer, and 21-year-old Deepak Malik.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 45,000 along with the sentence on each of the convicts for offences under sections 363 (kidnap), 366 (kidnapping woman to compel her for marriage), 376(2)(g) (gang rape) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

While convicting the three youths, the court relied on the testimony of the girl and her medical report which proved that she was gangraped.

“Testimony of the victim has been found to be clear, natural, cogent, convincing, trustworthy and inspiring confidence. There is nothing in her statement to suggest that she had any animus against the accused to falsely implicate them in the case,” it said.

The court also relied on the medical evidence, DNA report and statements of other prosecution witnesses while convicting the youths.

According to prosecution, the girl was tricked into coming to a bus stop in Nangloi here on the afternoon of May 20, 2006 and was forced into a Maruti 800 car by the three youths.

They took her to a farm house in north-west Delhi which belonged to Manjeet's cousin to rape her, it said. 

When she started raising her voice, she was taken back to the car at gun-point and was raped by Deepak with the help of other two youths, who held her hands, it said, adding that the car was spotted by some passersby who apprehended the youths.  

During the trial, the youths had pleaded innocence and denied the allegations levelled against them. They also sought leniency from the court on the ground that they have already spent nearly five years in judicial custody since arrest.