A Delhi court will pronounce on 10 September its verdict in the 16 December gang rape case of a 23-year-old girl in the moving bus with one of the accused admitting his presence in the vehicle but refuting the charge of raping the victim, who died in a Singapore hospital.
Accused Mukesh, who along with three other accused is facing murder charge, on Tuesday told
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna during final arguments that he was only driving the bus and had not participated in any crime.
The trial, which concluded on Tuesday after 130 hearings, saw Mukesh admitting his presence in the bus while other accused Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta denied the charges levelled against them.
‘My mere presence in the bus does not prove that I participated in the gang rape, loot and murder of the girl, who died in a Singapore hospital on 29 December. I, on my own, have admitted that I was in the bus and was driving it and had never left my seat,’ VK Anand, counsel for Mukesh, said.
The court reserved its order after the prosecution and the defence counsel concluded their submissions.
Anand, who concluded his final arguments in two hours, said there is nothing on record to prove my client had ‘hatched any conspiracy with other accused. There is no meeting of minds between the accused’.
The defence counsel asked, ‘Is it possible that an elder brother is asking to accompany his younger one to rape a girl?’
Anand said that the court should not rely on the statement of the victim’s friend, also the complainant in the case, alleging he has changed his stand on several occasions.
‘The boy is untrustworthy. How can his statement be relied upon?’ the counsel argued, adding that Mukesh was not aware of the incident happening in the back side of the bus as he was behind the wheels and the lights inside the bus had been turned off when the crime was being committed by others.
The prosecution had examined 85 witnesses to prove its case against the four adult accused. The accused had brought 17 defence witnesses.
Accused Mukesh, who along with three other accused is facing murder charge, on Tuesday told
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna during final arguments that he was only driving the bus and had not participated in any crime.
The trial, which concluded on Tuesday after 130 hearings, saw Mukesh admitting his presence in the bus while other accused Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta denied the charges levelled against them.
‘My mere presence in the bus does not prove that I participated in the gang rape, loot and murder of the girl, who died in a Singapore hospital on 29 December. I, on my own, have admitted that I was in the bus and was driving it and had never left my seat,’ VK Anand, counsel for Mukesh, said.
The court reserved its order after the prosecution and the defence counsel concluded their submissions.
Anand, who concluded his final arguments in two hours, said there is nothing on record to prove my client had ‘hatched any conspiracy with other accused. There is no meeting of minds between the accused’.
The defence counsel asked, ‘Is it possible that an elder brother is asking to accompany his younger one to rape a girl?’
Anand said that the court should not rely on the statement of the victim’s friend, also the complainant in the case, alleging he has changed his stand on several occasions.
‘The boy is untrustworthy. How can his statement be relied upon?’ the counsel argued, adding that Mukesh was not aware of the incident happening in the back side of the bus as he was behind the wheels and the lights inside the bus had been turned off when the crime was being committed by others.
The prosecution had examined 85 witnesses to prove its case against the four adult accused. The accused had brought 17 defence witnesses.