E-Paper
Pune gang-rape: Accused made videos, circulated it among selves; 2 more arrests
The survivor of Pune gang-rape has revealed that some of the accused recorded the crime and circulated the video among themselves.
PUNE: In the case of sexual assault on a girl, 14, by multiple men, registered at Wanowrie police station, Pune, the survivor has revealed that some of the accused recorded the crime and circulated the video among themselves. Two more men were arrested and remanded to police custody on Thursday based on a supplementary statement recorded by the survivor, taking the total number of accused in the case to 19, 16 of whom allegedly participated in the act, while one is the survivor’s friend and two others are workers at a lodge where the girl was taken by the accused, according to the police submission in court on Thursday.
The two arrested men were identified as Mehboob Shaikh and Ismail Shaikh, both autorickshaw drivers and residents of MHADA colony area of Pune, according to the police. They were remanded to 10 days in police custody.
The 14 people arrested earlier in the case, including the survivor’s friend, were sent to four more days in police custody by additional sessions judge S P Ponkshe in the presence of public prosecutor (PP) Shubhangi Deshmukh and defence lawyers M M Sayyed along with Vijaylaxmi Khopade. The 17th accused was arrested from a railway station in Pune two days ago and is in police custody for seven days.
Public prosecutor Deshmukh said, “The girl has recorded a supplementary statement and revealed the names of others who have assaulted her. Based on that, two are in judicial custody; 14 are in police custody; one was arrested two days ago; and two have been arrested and produced in court today (Thursday).”
The two lodge workers from Pune are currently in judicial custody.
“They have been arrested for not doing their job and checking the girl’s identity at the lodge and not reporting the goings-on to the police. They are not found to be involved in the sexual assault,” said Namrata Patil, deputy commissioner of police, zone 5 of Pune police.
Police sub-inspector Sudha Choudhury of Wanowrie police station, who is investigating the case, in court said, “The men have made pornographic videos of the girl and circulated it among themselves. There are more locations added to the previous list and the scope of the investigation is widening. Their custody is necessary for further investigation.”
The men took away the girl’s phone on the night of August 31 when she was kidnapped and gave it back to her on September 2 when she was put on a train to Mumbai.
The first of the 14 arrested accused is a railway employee whose lawyer, advocate Khopade, claimed that he had only booked the ticket on the insistence of the other accused and had not sexually assaulted the girl. While advocate Sayyed argued that the men had been in custody for long enough to conclude their physical investigation and medical tests and consequently, let out of custody.
However, public prosecutor Deshmukh told them that this wasn’t the stage to decide whether the gathering of evidence was over. The investigating officer claimed that the railway employee had also sexually assaulted the girl.
