Police files chargesheet against five accused in Mumbai gangrape

Mumbai: Mumbai police today filed a charge sheet against four accused in last month’s gangrape of a 23-year-old photo journalist. A chargesheet was filed separately against the juvenile accomplice of the accused before a juvenile court. [caption id=“attachment_1120693” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The accused have been charge-sheeted under various sections of IPC including 376(d) (gangrape), 377 (unnatural offence), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) among others. The 600-page charge sheet filed in a magistrate’s court has details of the victim’s ordeal, statements of 86 witnesses, forensic evidence collected from the spot, DNA analysis reports, besides phone call records. The photo journalist was allegedly raped by the five accused when she had gone to the deserted Shakti Mills compound on 22 August with a male colleague on assignment. The accused– Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav, Mohammed Kasim Hafiz Shaikh alias Kasim Bengali, Siraj Rehman Khan and the minor–had tied up the victim’s male companion with belts and allegedly raped her. Police had claimed it had a “water-tight” case against all the five accused. PTI