Notwithstanding an initial probe finding that the five accused in the gang-rape case had attempted to destroy the evidence at the Shakti Mill compound, the Mumbai police on Monday disclosed that they had collected “scientific evidence” from the same crime scene, while two forensic teams were coming to the city to collect more evidence from there.
In another revelation that would bring some relief to the rape survivor and her family, the investigators confirmed that they had seized the mobile phone used for clicking the photographs of the victim on the evening of the gang-rape. They, however, added that they were yet to retrieve the “only photograph” of the rape survivor clicked from the mobile phone in question.
The fifth accused, Salim Ansari ( 22), was remanded in police custody till September 5.
Avoiding a direct reply to news reports suggesting that the accused had attempted to destroy the evidence on the crime scene by asking the rape survivor to “clean-up” the place after allegedly perpetrating sexual assault on her, Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh said: “I think you must be aware that whatever accused do on a scene of crime, some trail is always left behind. We have already collected the scientific evidence from the scene of crime. Some more evidence is still available on the crime scene. Some teams are coming to Mumbai to collect additional evidence”.
Singh said that a team from the New Delhi-based Central Forensic Science laboratory was arriving in the city later in the evening, while team of forensic scientists would be coming from Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Tuesday to marshal scientific evidence from the crime scene.
Seeking to allay the apprehensions expressed by the rape survivor that the accused might misuse the photographs that they had clicked from their mobile on the crime scene, the city police chief said: “The mobile phone ( of the accused from which the rape survivor’s photograph was taken) has been seized. As per the information we got during the interrogation of the accused, only one photograph was clicked. But, the photo thus clicked is not available. We will retrieve it somehow.”
Contesting the claim made by the grandmother of Chand Babu Sattar Shaikh, one of the accused in the case, that the accused boy was a minor, the police chief said: “Of the five accused in the case, three have a past criminal record and none of them is juvenile. As far as Chand is concerned, he was arrested for a theft case in 2011. As per the date of birth mentioned in our records then, he is very above 18 years of age… If required, we will conduct an ossification test to confirm this”.
Indirectly setting at rest a controversy raked up by MNS chief Raj Thackeray in the wake of the gang-rape of a photojournalist that the migrants were contributing to the increase in the crime in the metropolis, the city police chief said: “All the five accused were born and have been brought up in Mumbai city”.
“All of them were jobless. While two of them are Class VI dropouts, two are Class VII dropout, and one is completely illiterate. Three of them lost their fathers at a young age, while one has lost his mother. In the case of remaining, both of his parents are alive,” Singh said.
Replying to a question, Singh said that the gang-rape on a photojournalist committed by the five accused on the Shakti Mill premises at Mahalaxmi in south-central Mumbai was not preplanned. “It (the crime) was not preplanned. looting could have been the motive.”
On media reports quoting the rape survivor’s statement to the police that she had
offered her I-Phone and the Canon SlR camera to the accused before the rape, the police chief said: “The motives can change”.
On a report in a section of the media that said that one of the arrested accused Vijay Jadhav had confessed that he and others had committed
similar crimes in the past, he said, “We have not received any complaint so far. But, we are verifying this.”
The Commissioner said, “There could be such a perception (that Mumbai is longer safe for women) among the people. Yes, I agree it was it was gruesome crime. But that does not mean that Mumbai has become an unsafe city for people. And I do not share the perception of people (that Mumbai is unsafe for women) in certain quarters.”
Charge sheet to be filed in fast track court
A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Pritiviraj Chavan announced that the photojournalist gang-rape case would be fast-tracked, Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh said here on Monday that the city police would file the charge-sheet against the five arrested accused in a fast track court “as soon as possible”.
Declining to specify a deadline before which the city police would file the charge sheet in the case would be filed in a court, Singh said: “I cannot tell you in how many days we will file the charge sheet. All I can tell you that the accused arrested in the case would be tried in a fast track court and we will file the charge sheet as early as possible”. The city police chief said 272 abandoned premises had been identified, where steps were being initiated to step up security. “We are sending out notices to owners and court receivers to post security guards and install CCTV cameras. If they do not comply, we will initiate action,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old rape survivor’s health had shown steady improvement. “She is eating normally and her medical parameters continue to be normal,” Dr Tarang Gianchandani, acting CEO and director-medical services of Jaslok Hospital, said.