Dec 16 gangrape: accused interferes during trial proceedings

New Delhi: One of the accused in the December  16 gangrape case today interfered during the recording of statements of defence witnesses in a special court saying “he has been falsely implicated by the Delhi police”. The incident occurred during the recording of the statement of accused Akshay Thakur’s wife when he stood up from his seat and said the court should believe her testimony regarding his presence at his native village in Bihar on the fateful night. [caption id=“attachment_1018087” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rape protests. Delhi[/caption] Akshay also interrupted when the prosecution asked some questions to his wife regarding their stay since marriage in 2010 saying the police have nothing to do with it and they should specifically ask where he was on December 16 night. At this juncture, the court got annoyed and asked Akshay to keep quite and not to interfere during the proceedings. “At this stage, accused Akshay started interfering in the recording of the evidence and is trying to give answers. He was directed not to do so again,” Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna said. Akshay was warned even by his counsel A P Singh who told him that if he would interfere in the proceedings, then he would walk out of the court room. During the recording of the statement, Akshay’s wife  refuted the claims of the police saying her husband was not in Delhi and it was false that he was present in the bus in which a 23-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by six persons. “Why should I believe you (police)? He (Akshay) was with me on December 16,” she said while corroborating Akshay’s plea of alibi. During the day’s proceeding, the court also recorded the statement of Akshay’s father-in-law who started weeping and said the accused is innocent and “no one is there to look after his wife and minor son”. Special Public Prosecutor Dayan Krishnan cross examined both the defence witnesses and said they were deposing falsely and were “tutored” by Akshay’s parents. The defence witnesses also denied the prosecution’s claim  saying “it is wrong to suggest that the accused (Akshay) had not reached the village on December 16, 2012 and he was in Delhi on that day”. “It is wrong to suggest that I have deposed falsely being the wife of the accused,” his wife said, adding her husband was not involved in the gangrape incident nor had he assaulted the victim’s male friend along with other co-accused. Akshay father-in-law also denied police allegation that he has concocted a false story at the behest of the accused’s father in order to save him in the case. During recording of his statement, Akshay had claimed he was not in the bus in which the paramedic student was gangraped. Akshay had claimed to have left Delhi in a train prior to the sexual assault of the girl. “He was at his home town in Bihar, which can be confirmed  by his family members,” Akshay’s counsel had said. According to the prosecution, Ram Singh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh had allegedly gangraped the girl in a moving bus here. The victim died of injuries on December 29 last year while undergoing treatment in a Singapore hospital. During the trial, Ram Singh was found dead in Tihar Jail on March 11 and court proceedings against him stand abated. The sixth accused, a juvenile, is facing an inquiry before the juvenile justice board here. PTI