A Mumbai-born man named Cecil Burrows has been sentenced to 18-month jail by a US court for recording a 35-minute gangrape video of an unconscious woman in Montgomery County community of Olney, Maryland. While Burrows was recording the gangrape, he simultaneously coached the rapists while they continued to rape the woman.
The matter was brought to the court when one of the rapists, Andres Cortez, showed the video to his co-worker at work and the colleague later reported the matter to the manager, who then filed a report against Cortez at the law enforcement.
While Cortez’s case was being discussed at the court, 22-year-old Burrows claimed that he wasn’t home at the time of the incident. Later, when a private detective visited Cortez in prison, it was revealed that Burrows was the one to record the video.
While the video was being played in the court, Burrows could be heard making statements in the background “pin her down” and “who’s next”. To these instructions, one of the rapists had responded saying “Cecil, he like a coach”.
The authorities are not sure but have pointed out that at the time of the rape, the victim was either drunk or drugged, due to which she was unconscious. However, she could be heard in the video pleading the rapists to stop.
Critics have conveyed their disappointment to the limited amount of jail sentence given to Cecil Burrows. They claim that he enjoyed the process of “coaching” and recording the video, due to which should be given a longer jail time than he has been granted. In 2014, Burrows was arrested and jailed. The 18 months of time given to him by Judge Sharon Burrell at the Montgomery County Circuit Court sums up his total jail time to 617 days.
Cecil Burrows had become a part of a gang at the age of 12. Since, he was born in Mumbai and had immigrated to the US at the age of four, his residential status is that of permanent resident and not of a citizen, the authorities have decided that he would be deported to India after he has completes serving his jail time.
