Chargesheet filed against Delhi gang-rape accused in robbery case

The accused in the December 16 gang-rape case were on Friday chargesheeted in a court by the Delhi Police in a separate case of robbing.

New Delhi: The accused in the December 16 gang-rape case were on Friday chargesheeted in a court here by the Delhi Police in a separate case lodged against them for robbing a man before brutally assaulting and raping the girl.

The police filed their chargesheet against all the five accused during closed-door proceedings before Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Akash Jain who took cognisance of the final report and posted the matter for further hearing on March 28. "Cognisance taken. To come up for scrutiny of documents and consideration on March 28," the magistrate said. Ram Singh, who was the main accused in the gang-rape case as well as the robbery case, had allegedly committed suicide on March 11 inside Tihar Jail where he was lodged under judicial custody. The court had thereafter abated the proceedings against Ram Singh in the gang-rape case. The police, in their 15-page chargesheet, have given the details about how 35-year-old carpenter Ram Adhar was allegedly robbed by the accused in the bus on December 16 and later thrown out of the moving vehicle. According to police, the five accused -- bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Singh, along with a juvenile, had snatched Ram Adhar`s mobile phone and Rs 1,500 after luring him into the bus. The juvenile, who was acting as a conductor in the bus, has been named in the robbery case but a separate charge sheet has been filed against him before the Juvenile Justice Board. The police have filed the chargesheet against the accused for offences under Sections 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person), 342 (wrongfully confining any person), 394 (person voluntarily causing hurt in committing or attempting to commit robbery), 395 (dacoity), 412 (dishonestly receiving stolen property knowing that it was obtained by dacoity) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. The police, in their chargesheet, has said that Ram Adhar was working in a furniture shop in Munirka in south Delhi and while he was returning home to Sangam Vihar at around 8.45 pm on December 16, he was picked up by the accused in the bus from Munirka bus stand and then robbed and thrown out of the vehicle at IIT flyover. It said the juvenile had lured Ram Adhar, saying the bus was going towards Nehru Place in south Delhi after which Ram Singh and Akshay Singh took him in the rear portion of the vehicle where Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta caught hold of him, beat him and took away Rs 1,500 from him. The juvenile had torn his clothes and snatched his mobile phone, the police said, adding that he also threw Ram Adhar at IIT flyover after the commission of crime. According to the police, Mukesh, who was driving the bus, was told by the other accused to accelerate the vehicle as they robbed him. They all had a party thereafter at Ram Singh`s place after which they decided to go on a ride and rob more people, it said, adding they had tried to pick up other passengers but Ram Adhar was the only one who boarded their bus. In the chargesheet running into a total of 153 pages along with the annexures, it said that the robbed articles were later on recovered from the possession of the accused persons. It also said that Ram Adhar had lodged an FIR on December 18, last year after he came to know that the brutal gang-rape had taken place in the same bus in which he was robbed. Along with the chargesheet, police have filed 20 sets of documents and has cited 30 people as prosecution witnesses. The adult accused are facing trial in the gang-rape case before a fast-track court here and they have pleaded not guilty to the charges framed against them. They had allegedly picked up the 23-year-old girl and her male friend from Munirka bus stand, the police have said. The girl died in a Singapore hospital on December 29. PTI