After the court’s decision, women’s rights activists are registering their protest. Five people accused in this case have been sentenced for sexual misconduct instead of gang rape.
The court said in its judgment that it is not rape because the victim was in a state of unconsciousness and the culprits did not have to commit violence with her. This is the reason why the five accused in this case have been sentenced to a lesser punishment.
According to Spanish law, a crime is considered to be rape or sexual abuse when it uses physical force or threat.
This decision of the court has come when earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Spain overturned a similar decision and called the accused as rapists.
What is the whole matter?
This case is in October 2016. A program of drinking was going on in Manresa, a town in the northeastern region of Catalonia. This girl was also present there.
The prosecution told the court that the girl was sexually abused by two men from Spain, two from Cuba and a boy from Argentina. When the girl was being sexually abused, she was intoxicated by alcohol and drugs.
The five accused have been sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison. If he was found guilty of sexual abuse and a serious case, he could have been sentenced to 15 to 20 years.
This case is being called the ‘Manresa Wolf’ pack. Actually, another gang-rape case in 2016 is similar to this. After that case, there were large-scale protests and a demand for a change in the law of rape was raised.
What happened in this case
The girl told the court that whatever happened to her, she remembers it lightly. The girl told that a man was showing him a gun.
All the accused denied the charges but the DNA of one of them was found on the girl’s undergarment.
According to the Spanish newspaper named El País, the court said in its decision that the victim did not know what she was doing and whatnot. Because of this, she could not agree or disagree with the physical relationship of the accused.
At the same time, the accused said that “they made physical relations without resorting to violence or intimidation”.
The court also ordered the victim to pay a penalty of about Rs 94 lakh 57 thousand for the attack on her.
What happened in the old case
Even before this case, a court had turned the gang rape case into sexual misconduct.
The court in Navara had converted the charge of a gang rape of an 18-year-old girl into sexual misconduct. Five people were accused in this case.
The crime was committed by taking the girl to a residential building.
According to the police report, because the girl was inactive, no threat of violence was used.
In June, the Supreme Court of Spain changed the verdict and judged the accused to be rapists, considering it as sexual violence.
After this, the punishment of those five people was increased from nine years to 15 years.
The Spanish prime minister also formed a panel to review the law of rape last year.
