By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala high court has confirmed the jail terms and increased the fine handed down by a lower court to three teachers and their friends for blackmailing and gangraping a student 17 years ago.

The teachers at a government-aided college at Pandalam, some 100kms away from here, challenged the 2002 verdict of the additional sessions court in Kottayam saying they were not given a proper hearing.

While upholding the verdict, the upper court termed the act of the teachers as “brutal” and came down heavily on the authorities of the college, run by the powerful Nair Service Society, for allowing them to continue in service.

Justice P Bhavadasan, who found all seven accused guilty of the crime, also raised the compensation to be paid by the convicts to the victim to Rs 525,000.

Three convicts are still working at the same institution, the NSS Hindu College.

According to the police, the victim, a English literature student who excelled in studies and was expected to be a university level topper, was called to the house of one of her teachers where he raped her along with another teacher.

Later, six others, including two teachers of the same college, joined them and the exploitation continued for more than three months. The student later confided in her father who lodged a complaint with the head of the institution.

Police later recovered photographs of the girl in a compromising position, used by the gang to blackmail her, from the house of K Venugopal, the teacher who first raped her.

One of the teachers committed suicide during the trial.

B Ravindranadha Pillai, her English tutor, C M Prakash, lecturer in botany, M Venugopal, a contracting businessman, Jyothish Kumar, who runs a convenience store, Manoj Kumar, a former member of the village council and K G Shah George, a television drama producer were other convicts.

They received jail terms ranging from seven to 11 years according to their involvement in the crime.

The court found them guilty of criminal conspiracy. The court held that Prakash, Kumar and George had not participated in the physical sexual exploitation of the victim and they were asked to pay Rs 50,000 each to the victim while others were ordered to pay Rs 125,000 each.