Kashmiri separatist Andrabi gets life term, 2 aides 30 yrs

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court Tuesday sentenced Kashmiri separatist and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi to life imprisonment for conspiring to commit a crime against the State.Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh also sentenced two of Andrabi's associates, Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen, to 30 years' imprisonment in the case. The court awarded life sentences to Andrabi under Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of the UAPA and under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 121 A of the erstwhile IPC. Section 18 of UAPA says, The court said the sentences will run concurrently. The three had been sentenced on Jan 14, following which the NIA had sought life imprisonment for Andrabi, saying she had waged war against India, and a stern message was required to be sent that conspiring against the State would invite the harshest penalty. In its 286-page order, the court said Andrabi and her associates hatched a conspiracy for the secession of Kashmir from India. Rejecting the defence's submissions, the court held "treating the convicts with leniency will amount to infusing a fresh lease of life and vigour in the spirit of convicts which aims at secession of an integral part of India."