Sakinaka rape and murder: Mumbai court frames charges, trial to begin soon

According to Mumbai Police, the 32-year-old victim had met the accused, Mohan Chouhan, on September 10 at Kherani Road in Sakinaka around 3am. A CCTV camera had captured Chouhan assaulting the victim and later pulling her towards a standing tempo

The Dindoshi sessions court on Thursday completed the framing of charges in the Sakinaka rape and murder case. The court is likely to start the trial soon, after going through the necessary documents.

The prosecution in the Sakinaka rape and murder case on Thursday submitted a list of witnesses to be examined, along with other forensic documents, before the Mumbai court. (PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATION)

The accused, Mohan Chouhan, was charged under sections 302 (murder), 376 (A) (committing an offence of rape and inflicting injury which causes the woman to be in a persistent vegetative state), 376 (2) (m) (causing grievous bodily harm or endangering the life of a woman while committing rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act and the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The prosecution, through senior advocate Raja Thakare and advocate Mahesh Mule, had submitted draft charges, based on which additional sessions judge HC Shende framed the offences against Chouhan, 45. The prosecution on Thursday also submitted a list of the witnesses to be examined, along with other forensic documents, before the court.

According to the police, the 32-year-old victim had met Chouhan on September 10 at Kherani Road in Sakinaka around 3am. A CCTV camera had captured Chouhan assaulting the victim and later pulling her towards a standing tempo, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her and left her severely injured. A watchman, who saw the woman in an injured state, informed the police, following which she was rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar. She died in the hospital a day later.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, after a high-level meeting with senior police officers, had directed that the state home department appoint a special public prosecutor and fast track the case.

Following the incident, Mumbai Police had formed a special investigating team (SIT), headed by officer Jyotsna Rasam, which had submitted a 346-page charge sheet in 18 days’ time. In the charge sheet, the police had said that Chouhan and the victim knew each other and that the accused was angry at the woman as she had gone out of the town for 15-20 days without informing him.

The SIT had recorded the statements of 77 witnesses in a short period of time. The police said the watchman had identified the accused during the identification parade that was carried out recently, which further strengthened the prosecution’s case.

In the last hearing, the court had provided Chouhan with legal aid and had appointed Kalpana Waskar as his counsel.

The incident had sparked a massive outrage in the city. Mumbai Police has formed Nirbhaya teams at every police station level to maintain a list of sexual offenders from the past five years’ data.