Eyewitness identifies Nehru Nagar rape accused

An eyewitness in the rape and murder case of a minor at Nehru Nagar in suburban Kurla, identified accused Javed Shaikh in the sessions court on Thursday. She said she had seen him in the victim’s company on the day of offence.

An eyewitness in the rape and murder case of a minor at Nehru Nagar in suburban Kurla, identified accused Javed Shaikh in the sessions court on Thursday. She said she had seen him in the victim’s company on the day of offence.

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The eyewitness – a self employed woman - told the court that on June 6, 2010 she had seen Shaikh and the victim pass by her. “Around 7pm, the accused and the nine-year-old girl walked past me near Balwadi,” the eyewitness said.

The eyewitness added she saw Javed and the minor girl entering a lane at Vatsalatai Nagar chawl. The body of the nine-year-old victim was found in a shanty in the chawl on June 19.

After the incident took place, the police, on July 2, went door-to-door with the photograph of the victim. “After seeing the photograph, I remembered seeing the victim with the boy and told the police about it,” the eyewitness said.

The eyewitness also told the court that she identified Shaikh in the identification parade held on July 23 at Thane Central Prison. On August 11, she was called to Nehru Nagar police station and there she identified the clothes that the victim and the accused had worn on the day of the incident, the eyewitness added.

Three minors were raped and murdered at Kurla last year. Shaikh is the accused in the third case. Shaikh, a cable operator, was arrested on July 1, after the third victim’s body was found on an abandoned mezzanine floor of the chawl. Shaikh’s DNA sample matched with the stains found on the victim. Javed has been booked under sections 302 (murder), 364 (kidnap) and 376 (rape) of the IPC.