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Delhi gang rape: 2 accused want to become state witnesses
NEW DELHI: In a desperate bid to escape punishment, two of the six accused in the Delhi gangrape case today told a court that they want to become witnesses on
behalf of the state while two others pleaded for legal aid. Out of four accused, who were produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Jyoti Kler inside her chamber after expiry of their 14-days of judicial remand, two refused to take the service of legal aid counsel and expressed their willingness to become witnesses in the gangrape-cum-murder case.
Besides the two, two who were also produced before the court, have asked for legal aid counsel in the case for their defence.
Legal experts feel that an accused cannot hope to become a witness especially in a case of heinous crime like the Delhi gangrape-cum-murder to escape punishment.
Usually in a case where investigators find it difficult to gather evidence, they could ask for an accused to become an approver to get crucial evidence and in return, the accused could get lighter sentence or escape punishment, the experts said.
The magistrate, meanwhile, extended their judicial remand till January 19, and asked them to appear before the court concerned on January 7 as per the production warrant issued to them after taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against the accused on January 3.
"All the accused persons were informed that they can seek legal aid in the case, if they have not engaged any counsel.
Two accused have refused to take service of the legal aid counsel and have submitted that they want to become witnesses on behalf of the state, the magistrate said in the order dictated in the open court room after the accused were sent back to jail.
The court also said that two other accused have not engaged counsel so they want legal aid. They be provided the legal aid counsel.
"Let all the four accused persons be produced before the court concerned on January 7." The magistrate in her order said that two accused have been directed to move an appropriate application to become witnesses in the case before the court concerned.
The fifth accused arrested in the case will also be produced before a court tomorrow as he is in judicial custody till January 9.
However, the case of sixth accused - a minor - will be heard by a Juvenile Justice Board.
While the accused were produced before the judge in her chamber, she dictated the order in open court room and no direction was given by her for prohibiting any media person from publishing or printing the proceedings.
A court had taken cognisance of the charge sheet against five of the accused yesterday under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 376 (2)(g) (gangrape), 377 (unnatural offences), 395 (dacoity), 396 (murder in dacoity), 394 (hurting in dacoity), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120-B
(conspiracy), 34 (common intention) and 412 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC.
The victim, a paramedical student, was brutally raped and assaulted in a moving bus here on the night of December 16 and died of her injuries on December 29 in multi-speciality Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. — PTI
Gang-rape victim's father wants world to know her real name
LONDON: The 23-year-old Delhi gangrape victim's devastated father says he wants the world to know his daughter's real name as it will give courage to other women
who have survived such attacks, a week after the braveheart succumbed to her gruesome injuries. Following the girl's brutal assault
in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16 by six men, the Indian media has refrained from naming her. She died on December 29 at a Singapore hospital where she was shifted to from Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital in an extremely critical condition.
"We want the world to know her real name. My daughter didn't do anything wrong, she died while protecting herself. I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter," the victim's 53-year-old father told 'The
Sunday People', the Daily Mirror's Sunday edition, in his ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh.
The girl's family has retreated to their village to grieve away from their Delhi home. "At first I wanted to see the men responsible face to face but I don't want to any more. I just want to hear that the courts have punished them and they will be hanged.
"Death for all six of them. These men are beasts. They should be made an example of and that society will not allow such things to happen," the girl's father said.
What happened to her was "just gruesome and I hope no one ever goes through what she had to endure," he said. He now hopes mothers and fathers will teach their sons to respect women. "The police cannot handle this on their own.
But parents need to keep an eye on their children too." — PTI
Raj Thackeray blames ‘Bihari’ migrants for Delhi
gang rape
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has blamed “Bihari” migrants for the recent case of
gang rape of a girl in New Delhi.
“All are talking about the Delhi gang rape, but nobody is asking from where these men came. No one is asking who did this. So many cases are slapped against me (for speaking against Biharis) but no one is talking about the fact that all these rapists are from Bihar,” he said, addressing a public function in suburban Goregaon last night.
“The system has collapsed,” Raj said.
The gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in the national capital has led to thousands of protesters taking to the streets demanding stricter anti-rape laws. — PTI
Suspend cops who refuse to register
complaint: Home Secretary
NEW DELHI: A policeman should be suspended immediately if he refuses to register a complaint, Union Home Secretary
R.K. Singh has suggested.
“There should not be any hesitation in suspending any policeman who refuses to register a complaint. That is in law. Not registering any complaint is violation of law,” he said.
According to Singh, people face ordeal in every step while going to a police station for registering any case as well as trying to know the status of their complaint.
“That has to be changed. For the women, weaker sections or the poor, visiting a police station itself is an ordeal. To know the status of any compliant, without taking the local MLA along, it is impossible,” he said.
The Home Secretary said an atmosphere should be created where women and weaker sections of the society get the ability to register a complaint without facing difficulty.
He said in cases such as molestation, the very thought of going through the ordeal to brief the policemen about the incident dissuade many to go to a police station and that has to be changed.
“It is high time, as a country we have to woke up. Our inability to protect women and weaker sections of the society is a huge, huge problem,” he told the country’s top police brass at a conference here on Friday.
The conference was convened in the wake of the brutal gang-rape and assault of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi.
The Home Secretary said the government has taken some steps but that was not enough as there should be change in people’s attitude.
“We have to educate people to respect women, SCs, STs. We have to address the problem through social messaging, curriculum, through education.
“Beginning has to be made. We have to build infrastructure for women’s safety. We have to ensure dignity of life.”
Singh said investigation of any case has to be time-bound and, according to
CrPC, it has to be completed in three months.
He said the Home Ministry has taken the initiative to set up fast-track courts across the country to deal with cases of crime against women and weaker sections of the society.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. This is the biggest problem. If the case is delayed, witnesses are not coming forward and there are many more problems. We have to get the trial start quickly,” the home secretary said.
He said every police officer should be responsible, responsive and there should be change of attitude of police and policing. “Investigation has to be sensitive,” he said.
Singh also asked all state governments to increase the number of women in police forces to 33 per cent.
Noting that women comprised just 3.98 per cent of the country’s total police forces, he told the
DGPs, “If there is women police, women complainants will feel more secure, comfortable in visiting a police station. We think 33 per cent civil police — constables and sub-inspectors should be women.
“We have suggested to the Delhi Police to increase the number of women personnel and we suggest you all to do the needful to achieve this target.” — PTI
Pak troops violate ceasefire
SRINAGAR: Pakistani troops on Sunday violated ceasefire by firing mortar shells towards Indian army posts in Uri sector near the Line of Control.
“They (Pakistan army) started firing mortar shells towards our posts at Churunda village in Uri sector around 3.15 am,” an army spokesman said.
He said some of the shells landed close to civilian habitation but there was no damage done.
The spokesman said the army retaliated the Pakistani shelling briefly after which there has been quiet from both sides. — PTI
Akbar Owaisi will surrender before law, says MIM chief
HYDERABAD: Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi would return from London and "surrender before law" in the case of alleged hate speeches.
"He will come and surrender before law. We are not the ones to run away," Asad Owaisi told a public meeting Saturday night in Ranga Reddy district.
The police has directed Akbar Owaisi, who is away in London, to appear before Nirmal town police in Adilabad district Monday and at Nizamabad police station
on Tuesday in connection with two cases booked against him for delivering alleged hate speeches last month.
The Osmania University police in Hyderabad, who registered a case against Akbar on the direction of a city court,
has issued notice to the legislator to appear before them Jan 10.
Akbar, who is leader of the MIM in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative
Assembly, is understood to have informed police that he would return to Hyderabad soon and make himself available for questioning.
Director-General of Police V. Dinesh Reddy said the police would wait for the MIM leader's return for two to three days before initiating action.
MIM leaders were tight-lipped over reports that Akbar would return to Hyderabad Monday.
Some leaders indicated that he might seek time till next week to appear before police.
Addressing a public meeting in Tandur town as part of United Muslim Action Committee's campaign against the Congress government, Asad Owaisi clarified that his party was not against Hindus.
"Our fight is not against Hindus. Our fight is against BJP and (Chief
Minister) Kiran Kumar Reddy," said Asad, member of parliament from
Hyderabad.
Asad made the clarification even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its frontal organisations continued protests across the state, especially in the Telangana region, to condemn Akbar's alleged remarks against the majority community.
"We don't have to learn the lesson of patriotism from the criminals of Babri Masjid demolition and Gujarat riots. India is our country and we will continue to shed our blood for the country," Asad said.
Targeting Kiran Kumar Reddy, the MIM chief alleged that the Chief
Minister had a secret understanding with the BJP to weaken the MIM.
"Will the Congress government have booked cases against Akbar if we had not withdrawn support?" Asad asked the crowd.
He wondered why Akbar was booked 22 days after his speech in Nizamabad and 11 days after he addressed a public meeting in
Nirmal.
Asad said he would not comment on Akbar's speech as the matter was before the court.
"We have full faith in the judiciary and Akbar will get justice," he said. — IANS
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