Five men convicted of rapes in former mill

The cases had renewed calls to wipe out the scourge of sexual violence in India.

The rapes happened about a month apart in the same abandoned mill in the Lower Parel section of Mumbai, where luxury malls and condominiums stand alongside sprawling slums. Three of the men were convicted in both cases.

“(I) hope this verdict will act as a deterrent,” said Maharashtra home minister RR Patil, saying the cases were tried in the “fastest possible time”.

The men face 20 years to life in prison, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said. Sentencing was expected to take place today. Two minors are being tried separately by a juvenile court.

In the first case, a call-centre operator was gang-raped on July 31 inside the abandoned textile mill.

Nearly a month later, a 22-year-old photojournalist was on assignment with a male colleague when several men approached and offered to help them get permission to shoot photos in the abandoned mill. Once inside, the male colleague was beaten and tied up while the attackers took turns raping the woman.

The women cannot be identified under Indian law.

The men convicted of the crimes range in age from 19 to 26. In the weeks after the attack on the photojournalist, Mumbai police said the suspects had little to no education. Rape cases have taken on a sense of urgency since December 2012, when a 23-year-old medical student was fatally gang-raped on a moving bus in New Delhi. Four men have been sentenced to death in that rape case.