16 Dec convicts record statement in robbery case, claim innocence
9 March 2014 4:41 AM IST
Accused Vinay Sharma, who recorded his statement before Additional Sessions judge Daya Prakash, said he had gone for a musical event organised by the DDA district park Church in Hauz Khas region of south Delhi. ‘On 16 December 2012 at 8:30 pm, I along with family and friends had gone to a musical programme organised by a church. There I had videographed the programme on my mobile phone,’ Sharma said.
Earlier, Delhi police had said that a carpenter, Ram Adhar, who is also a prosecution witness, was lured into the bus and robbed by these six persons, before they gang-raped a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus near Mehrauli. Ram Adhar had identified the four accused present in court as those who had robbed and assaulted him on the night of 16 December 2012.
Another accused, Akshay Thakur, also said in his plea he was not present in the bus and had left for his village in Bihar, a day prior to the incident. ‘I left Delhi on 15 December 2012 at 12:10 pm and boarded the Mahabodhi Express train from platform 8 of New Delhi railway station going to Anugarah Narayan railway station in Bihar,’ Akshay said in his statement.
The court has now fixed 15 March for recording statements of the two other accused, after their advocate AP Singh informed the court that he would bring in new witnesses in the case. Delhi police, in its 15-page chargesheet filed on 15 March last year in the robbery case, alleged that bus driver Ram Singh (who allegedly ‘hanged’ himself in his cell in Tihar Jail), his brother Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay, along with the juvenile, had snatched the mobile phone and Rs 1,500 in cash from the 35-year-old carpenter Ram Adhar after luring him into the bus. The four were sentenced to death in the gang-rape and murder case in September last year.
Earlier, Delhi police had said that a carpenter, Ram Adhar, who is also a prosecution witness, was lured into the bus and robbed by these six persons, before they gang-raped a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus near Mehrauli. Ram Adhar had identified the four accused present in court as those who had robbed and assaulted him on the night of 16 December 2012.
Another accused, Akshay Thakur, also said in his plea he was not present in the bus and had left for his village in Bihar, a day prior to the incident. ‘I left Delhi on 15 December 2012 at 12:10 pm and boarded the Mahabodhi Express train from platform 8 of New Delhi railway station going to Anugarah Narayan railway station in Bihar,’ Akshay said in his statement.
The court has now fixed 15 March for recording statements of the two other accused, after their advocate AP Singh informed the court that he would bring in new witnesses in the case. Delhi police, in its 15-page chargesheet filed on 15 March last year in the robbery case, alleged that bus driver Ram Singh (who allegedly ‘hanged’ himself in his cell in Tihar Jail), his brother Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay, along with the juvenile, had snatched the mobile phone and Rs 1,500 in cash from the 35-year-old carpenter Ram Adhar after luring him into the bus. The four were sentenced to death in the gang-rape and murder case in September last year.
Next Story
