Delhi gang-rape: Witness denies manipulation of documents

A witness in Delhi gang-rape case denied before a court the claim of an accused that death certificate accompanying victim`s body was manipulated.

New Delhi: A witness in the December 16 gang-rape case on Wednesday denied before a special court the claim of an accused that the death certificate and other relevant documents accompanying the victim`s body, which was flown in from Singapore, was manipulated. "I (prosecution witness) had seen the original passport of the victim. I had not seen the dates on the passport. I cannot comment on the contents of the document," an Air India official said while deposing as a prosecution witness. Deposing about various documents that were handled by him, he said "I cannot comment upon the contents of the documents prepared at Singapore. The documents .... Are of Singapore and whereas the other documents were prepared in India after the flight landed." The AI official is posted at the IGI cargo terminal and in his presence the coffin carrying the victim`s dead body was unloaded on December 29, 2012.

He was being cross-examined by accused Mukesh, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta`s counsel who claimed in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna that the death certificate was not issued by the medical practitioner. The counsel claimed the certificate is not called a death certificate, instead it`s a certificate of registration of death. They also said it does not contain date under the signature of the official. To this, the witness said "I had seen the death certificate of the victim at the time of receiving and handing over the dead body." The witness told the court that it was wrong to suggest that he had not checked the documents before handing over the coffin to the consignee, the father of the victim. PTI