Two of the accused, who are facing trial for allegedly gangraping a 52-year-old Danish woman here last year, today claimed innocence in a Delhi court saying the police has falsely implicated them in the case.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kaveri Baweja recorded the statements of accused Mahender and Arjun in which they both denied the charges of raping the woman.
The court asked over 100 questions each to both the accused.
They claimed that a day prior to the alleged incident on January 14, 2014, they had hired a prostitute and had physical relations with her and had not done anything with the Danish woman.
They also claimed that the case property was planted on them by the police to implicate them in the matter.
The court has now fixed December 15 for recording of statements of other accused.
The court had earlier concluded recording prosecution evidence special public prosecutor AtulShrivastava.
During recording of testimony of the woman earlier, she had identified Mahender and Arjun as the one who had allegedly raped her.
The police charge sheet has said the nine accused, all vagabonds, had allegedly robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14 last year after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers’ Club near New Delhi Railway Station.
The nine accused, including three juveniles, were arrested. The three juveniles are facing an inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).
The six adult accused – Mahendra alias Ganja (26), Mohd Raja (22), Raju (23), Arjun (21), Raju Chakka (22) and Shyam Lal (55), are in judicial custody and facing trial.
The nine accused have been booked on charges of gangrape and robbery or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt under IPC.
Earlier, depositions of the victim and two Danish police officers, who had come here from Denmark in pursuance to summons, were also recorded by the court.
During an in-camera hearing on July 1, the woman had narrated to the judge the entire incident and identified three of the six adult accused as the ones who had gangraped her. However, while deposing before JJB, she had turned hostile and failed to identify the three minor offenders.
( Source – PTI )
