Kashmir separatist Andrabi sentenced to life in prison, two aides given 30 years

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced Kashmiri separatist and Dukhtaran Milat leader Asiya Andrabi to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit crimes against the state.In an additional session, Judge Chander Jit Singh also sentenced two of Andrabi’s associates, Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen, to 30 years in prison. The court sentenced Andrabi to life imprisonment under Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of UAPA and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 121 A of the former IPC. Section 18 of UAPA provides that, The court said the sentences would be handed down concurrently. The three were sentenced on January 14, after which the NIA sought life imprisonment for Andrabi, saying she had waged war against India and demanding a stern message that conspiring against the country would attract the harshest punishment. In its 286-page order, the court said Andrabi and his associates hatched a conspiracy to separate Kashmir from India. Rejecting the defence’s submission, the court held that “leniency to the convicts would amount to breathing new life and vitality into the spirit of the convicts with the object of dividing an integral part of India.”