--- title: India: Life Behind Bars for Man Who Raped an Elderly Nun description: A Bangladeshi man convicted of raping an elderly nun in 2015 has been sentenced to life in prison canonical: https://time.com/5016520/india-nun-rape-life-sentence/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-09T08:11:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:10:24.371Z article:section: World og:title: Life Behind Bars for Man Who Raped an Elderly Nun og:description: India's small christian community has come under attack in recent years og:url: https://time.com/5016520/india-nun-rape-life-sentence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb5a925e9b2840b5/6988e52c196cf4414f042ac8/gettyimages-524510432.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Indian Christian residents of Siliguri protest against the gang rape og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Life Behind Bars for Man Who Raped an Elderly Nun twitter:description: India's small christian community has come under attack in recent years twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb5a925e9b2840b5/6988e52c196cf4414f042ac8/gettyimages-524510432.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Man Who Raped an Elderly Nun in India Has Been Sentenced to Life Behind Bars by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Nov 9, 2017 8:11 AM CUT  Indian Christian residents of Siliguri protest against the gang rape of a nun in Siliguri, West Bengal India, on March 23, 2015. Indian Christian residents of Siliguri protest against the gang rape of a nun in Siliguri, West Bengal India, on March 23, 2015.S Majumder—NurPhoto/Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Nov 9, 2017 8:11 AM CUT A Bangladeshi man convicted of raping an elderly nun in 2015 was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday at the culmination of a sexual assault case that has sent shockwaves through India. A court in Kolkata found Nazrul Islam guilty of rape and attempted murder, the BBC [reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-41923764 "undefined"). It also doled out 10-year jail sentences to five other men found guilty of robbing her convent, and a seven-year sentence to a sixth man who helped conceal the attackers. In March 2015, thousands of Indians [marched](http://time.com/3745617/india-rape-nun-kolkata-protest-march/ "undefined") in Kolkata to protest the assault on the 71-year-old nun while six attackers burgled and vandalized her convent in the West Bengal city of Ranaghat, near the border with Bangladesh. Judge Kumkum Singha told the packed court that the assault was a “blot on West Bengal’s legacy where Mother Teresa worked for the poor.” According to the BBC, there have been multiple attacks on churches and India’s small christian community in recent years. The [brutal gang rape](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2132718,00.html "undefined") of a Delhi student in 2012 bought sexual violence in India to the fore, and led to a strengthening of some of the country’s laws. 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