The sensational case in which five constables of UT police were dismissed for allegedly raping a minor girl, took another twist on Wednesday when the victim claimed that she was indeed raped. In the last hearing, the victim had denied that rape took place.
Recording her evidence before a special court set-up to deal with crime against women, the 17-year-old victim said, “I was pressurised by the family and relatives of the five accused who had raped me. Under their pressure, I turned hostile during my previous hearing on March 21. However, now I want the accused to be punished for their crime.”
Meanwhile, police security was provided to the family of the victim after her brother, Vinod Kumar, put it before the court that they are facing life threat from the relatives of the accused.
During the previous hearing which was held on March 21, the victim had admitted that she was in relationship with Akshay, one of the five accused, and intended to marry him. But, she did not know the other four accused. She had lodged a complaint against the policemen after being influenced by some political activist.
The prosecution has alleged that she was allegedly gang-raped by five constables of Chandigarh police namely Akshay, Sunil, Himmat, Jagtar and Anil. A charge-sheet in the case was registered in February and two of the accused, Sunil and Akshay, were charged for rape and various other sections of Indian Penal Code. The other three accused, Himmat, Jagtar and Anil, were charged for wrongful confinement and sexual harassment along with other offences.
On December 19, a complaint was registered against the five constables after allegations were leveled against them by the 17-year-old girl. In her complaint, the victim stated that about three months ago, Akshay one of the accused constables, visited her residence after a call was made to the police following a domestic violence incident at the house.
later, Akshay along with his four friends started stalking the victim in their PCR van. One month after the stalking incident, the accused forcibly took her to a rented room at Khuda lahora a couple of times, where they allegedly raped her at gunpoint.