Shakti Mills gangrape: Court completes recording statements of accused

Mumbai: The sessions court conducting the Shakti Mills photojournalist gangrape case trial, completed recording statements of the accused here today. “The court has completed recording statements of the four accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_1422549” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of the Shakti Mills. Sachin Gokhale/ Firstpost[/caption] Defence advocate Prakash Salsingikar said that the court had asked aabout 970 questions to the accused. Under Section 313 of the CrPC, the accused are given a chance to explain the circumstances and allegations against them, through their statements. Meanwhile, Nikam began his final arguments in the related Shakti Mills telephone operator gangrape case and it will continue tomorrow. The first case pertains to the alleged gangrape of a 22-year-old magazine photojournalist who had gone out on an official assignment with her male colleague, to the deserted Shakti Mills compound in Central Mumbai, on 22 August last year. Allegedly, the five accused, (including a juvenile, whose case has been separated) gangraped her at the abandoned Shakti Mills compound, after assaulting her male colleague. The accused, namely Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali, Salim Ansari and Siraj Rehman as well as a minor boy, were charged with rape, conspiracy, common intention, unnatural sex and other sections under the Information Technology Act. On 19 September, 2013, the Mumbai police crime branch had filed a 600-page chargesheet against the four accused. The other case is of an 18-year-old telephone operator also allegedly gangraped by five accused (including three of those who were charged for raping the photojournalist). On 31 July last year, the police had arrested Mohammed Ashfaq Sheikh, Mohammed Kasim Hafiz Sheikh alias Kasim Bengali, Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav and a minor for the alleged gangrape of the telephone operator. The police had filed a 362-page chargesheet on October 8 last year, against the four accused, in connection with the telephone operator’s gangrape case. Later on, the minor’s case was separated. PTI