Aizawl, June 17: Nearly eight years after a woman was gang-raped and attacked with acid in Mizoram’s Mamit district, a court has sentenced two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel to 42 years of rigorous imprisonment each in a verdict that brings closure to one of the state’s most horrific crimes.

The judgment was delivered by the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Sylvie Zomuanpuii Ralte in Aizawl on Tuesday.

The two convicts, identified as Nilanjan Das and Dinesh Kumar, were found guilty of gang-raping the woman and attacking her with a corrosive substance near the Gaskata river in Silsuri West village of Mamit district on July 16, 2017.

The court had convicted the two BSF personnel on June 12 under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and pronounced the sentence on Tuesday.

According to the order, both convicts have been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for gang rape, 10 years for rape causing grievous bodily harm and 12 years for carrying out an acid attack. The sentences will run consecutively, taking the total punishment to 42 years of rigorous imprisonment for each convict.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹60,000 on each of the convicts under the three counts. Failure to pay the fine will attract an additional two months of imprisonment under each count.

Das, a resident of West Bengal, and Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, were serving as BSF personnel at the time of the crime.

The case had drawn widespread attention in Mizoram because of the brutality of the assault, which involved not only gang rape but also an acid attack on the survivor.

The sentencing marks the culmination of a legal process that stretched nearly eight years and is being viewed as a significant verdict in a case involving grave crimes against a woman.

With the court ordering substantial prison terms under multiple charges, the verdict sends a strong message on accountability in cases of sexual violence and acid attacks.