Telephone operator gangrape: Two more witnesses depose before court

Mumbai: Two more prosecution witnesses today deposed before the Sessions court here in the case related to the gangrape of an 18-year-old telephone operator at the Shakti Mills compound here on July 31. [caption id=“attachment_1190261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Shakti Mills. Reuters image[/caption] Three accused in this case were also allegedly involved in the gangrape of a photojournalist on the same premises on August 22. “First witness was a person from Chhattisgarh who had provided shelter to the victim and her friend and the second one an independent ‘panch’ witness who was present when one of the accused gave his mobile phone to the police,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told PTI. The victim — the telephone operator — will depose in the court on Tuesday. Nikam said that after the incident, the victim and her friend went to Chhattisgarh where the witness who deposed today put them up. They returned here a month later. The ‘panch’ witness was present when the accused Mohammed Ashfaq Sheikh handed over his mobile phone to the police. The police arrested Ashfaq Sheikh, Mohamed Kasim Hafiz Sheikh alias Kasim Bangali, Salim Ansari and Vijay Jadhav for gangrape of the telephone operator on July 31. Trials of both the rape cases are underway simultaneously. PTI