Officials from the Mumbai Crime Branch formally charged the four accused in the gang rape of the 22-year-old photojournalist at Shakti Mills
Twenty–eight days after the city was shamed by the heinous gang rape of a 22-year-old photojournalist, officials from the Mumbai Crime Branch — as promised by the Home Minister RR Patil -- filed a 600-page long chargesheet in the case. Four of the five accused -- Vijay Jadhav, Siraj Rehman Khan, Kaseem Shaikh alias Bengali and Mohammad Saleem Ansari -- were formally charged yesterday.
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Heinous crime: Following the gang rape, forensic experts and cops combed Shakti Mills compound. After 28 days, the cops finally filed a 600-page chargesheet in the crime. File pic
All the accused have been chargesheeted under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 376 (D) (gangrape), 377 (unnatural offence), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
Around 42 police constables and 12 officers, under the helm of Inspector Manohar Dhanawade from Unit III of the Crime Branch, worked on the chargesheet, which has around 86 witnesses, 18 panchnama reports, eight mobile analysis reports and 22 DNA reports.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy said, “The chargesheet contains various documents, like the identification reports in which the survivor identified the accused in front of the magistrate, DNA reports of the accused on the survivor, mobile location details which highlight that the accused were present at Shakti Mills during the time of the offence, mud samples found on the footwear of the accused, the victim’s clothes, call details, statements from the JJ Hospital and Jaslok Hospital doctors. The statement of the person with whom the accused were playing cards before the crime, and the survivor’s colleague are all crucial witnesses.”
An official added that since the survivor’s statement was taken in front of the magistrate, if she wasn’t available during the time of the trial, the magistrate to whom she gave her statement could depose in court
The chargesheet for the juvenile accused was also submitted in the juvenile court. u00a0
Second gang rape
The police will also file a chargesheet in a month’s time for the second gang rape of a Bhandup-based girl. The second survivor was raped by the same accused at Shakti mills on July 31. “If a fast track court gives results before our chargesheet of the second rape, the court can sentence the three accused to death,” said a cop.
Meanwhile, lawyer Moin Khan, who represents Kasim Bangali, complained to the Killa court magistrate U M Padwad that Bangali was detained by the Azad Maidan police and harassed for two hours. The magistrate has ordered an inquiry
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