Delhi gang-rape case: Will Ram Singh’s death benefit the other accused?

Will the death of the prime accused in the Delhi gang-rape case, who allegedly committed suicide in his cell in the high security Tihar Jail early Monday morning, work to the advantage of the remaining four accused? Rejecting such a possibility, legal experts say his death at this stage of the trial will not impact the case and that it will be difficult for the other accused to exploit the situation. With the investigations complete, charge-sheet filed by the police and charges framed by the court, death of one of the accused will not affect the case in any way, say lawyers. “So far as case is concerned there is no impact at all. Case is based on scientific evidence, circumstantial evidence and statement of the eyewitness who was injured in the case. As far as other accused are concerned, there will be no impact or effect,” says K K Manan, a criminal lawyer. [caption id=“attachment_657752” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] Asked if the other accused could attempt to shift the blame on to Ram Singh, Manan said, “That can be their defence. But what the prosecution has proved they will have to rebut. And for that reason, it is a shut case.” All five accused – the late Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma - stand charged by the court for offences including gang-rape, murder, attempt to murder, unnatural offences, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, kidnapping and dacoity with murder. The sixth accused, a minor, is facing trial before the Juvenile Justice Board and has also been charged with murder and gang-rape, among other offences. The six accused are facing trial for the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student, who subsequently succumbed to injuries, and the attack on her friend on the night of December 16. Justice S N Dhingra, retired judge of the High Court, explaining why it will be an uphill task for the other four accused to shift the blame on to Ram Singh, said, “The case is not in the investigative stage. The statements of the witnesses have been recorded by the prosecution much before framing of charges. Those witnesses are now deposing in the court. They will depose on the lines of the statement that they have already made to the police. These witnesses are not likely to say that it was only Ram Sigh. The witnesses cannot keep changing their stand. And they are not interested in Ram Singh or in exonerating the others.” He adds, “The accused persons may be interested in exonerating themselves. And they will get a chance to lead evidence when prosecution evidence is over. If they decide to examine themselves as a witness, only then can they take the stand that it was not me but Ram Singh who did this. For that the accused will have to come into the witness box as a witness after taking permission of the court. And thereafter, he will be cross-examined during which he will have to face questions on his presence and on the evidence that is on record. It is very unlikely that any accused will like to be cross-examined.” Justice Dhingra says it is very rare for the accused in criminal cases to be witnesses in their own case. “In almost all criminal trials, accused persons do not opt to be a witness in their own case. The onus is always on prosecution to prove. It is not on the accused to prove. But once he comes into witness box then his evidence can be read into the case and he may not be that clever to skip everything else and keep on saying only one thing. That is reason there is very little chance of even the accused persons putting the entire blame on Ram Singh to exonerate themselves.” Thus rejecting any possible of a fallout of Ram Singh’s death on the case, Justice Dhingra, says, “It is not going to impact the case, either positively or negatively. The trial was against five accused persons, now it will against four accused persons. His (Ram Singh’s) name will be deleted.”