The 22-year-old photojournalist fainted in a trial court here on Thursday, during a four-hour-long unfinished deposition in which she identified the four culprits, who allegedly perpetrated sexual assault on her in the Shakti Mill compound at Mahalaxmi in south-central Mumbai on August 22, 2013.
After narrating in detail the chain of events leading to the much-discussed rape on her in the defunct textile mill compound on evening of August 22 and identifying the four accused present during the in-camera trial proceedings, the tired victim fainted in the trial court room, from where she was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Principal Judge Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, who is presiding over the trial in the August 22 photojournalist gang-rape case, adjourned the proceedings for the day, after Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the court that the fainted rape survivor needed medical assistance.
“The rape survivor looked composed during most part of the day’s proceedings. She deposed for nearly four hours. There were, however, a few occasions when she looked a bit tense. The trauma she has undergone during the past two months, coupled with narration of events in the court room, might have contributed to her slumping to the ground in a faint. I think she will be alright after she takes some rest,” Nikam told The Pioneer in the evening.
According to Nikam, the rape survivor will continue her deposition on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, the rape survivor — who was accompanied by her mother during the in-camera proceedings held in a city sessions court — identified the four charge-sheeted accused —Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav, Mohammed Kasim Hafiz Shaikh alias Kasim Bengali, and Siraj Rehman Khan – whom the prosecution produced in the trial. The fifth accused in the case, who is a “minor” is being tried separately in juvenile justice court in the city.
The four accused, who heard the deposition of the rape survivor, remained “unfazed, remorseless and unmoved” during the proceedings, Nikam said.
The victim girl, working as an intern photojournalist for a Mumbai events listing magazine, was gang-raped on the evening of August 22 by five men in the cover of tall grass and shrubs surrounding the dilapidated remains of the defunct Shakti Mill compound, where she had gone along with her male colleague to take pictures for a magazine story.
The five alleged culprits had fled the scene, after threatening the girl that they would post the photographs taken of her on their mobile phone on a social network site, if either she or colleague complained the matter to the police.
Deposing before the court on the third day of trial in the case, the photojournalist came up with a narration of events that was identical to the statement that she had made before the police earlier.
“Apart from identifying the four accused, the victim girl also identified the porn clip shown to her by the accused during the sexual assault,” Nikam said.
The trial in the ghastly gang-rape case comes on the heels of the city crime branch police filing a 600-page chargesheet against the five accused in two city courts, after incorporating the crucial provisions of the Criminal law (Amendment) Act 2013.