Mumbai photojournalist gang-rape case: Last night, the police arrested Mohammad Kasam Bangali, the leader of the gang, in Mumbai.
Bangali will be produced with two other accused before a holiday court on Sunday. On Saturday, the police arrested Vijay Jadhav alias Nanu and Siraj Rehman alias Ashfaq. The first accused Chand Abdul Sattar Shaikh was arrested on Friday whose grandmother later claimed that he was a minor.
"Bangali is the oldest of the five accused and was one of the three who took turns to rape the survivor," said a police official. Shaikh and Jadhav were produced before the holiday magistrate court at Bhoiwada in central Mumbai separately and were both remanded to police custody till August 30. The case has been transferred to the Mumbai crime branch.
The photojournalist was on a work assignment on Thursday evening to the isolated Shakti Mill Compound with a male colleague when five men pretending to be railway employees accosted them. They separated the 22-year-old woman from her colleague on the pretext of questioning them separately. The woman was later raped while her colleague was assaulted and tied up.
According to reports, the crime might be premeditated as the woman had visited the compound earlier as well for photo shoots. Allegedly, one of the accused had spotted her there and hatched a conspiracy to rape her. Two of the accused have past criminal cases against them.
The survivor, who is undergoing treatment at Jaslok Hospital, was shifted to the floor that comprises VIP suites.
“She is very brave and is coping with the reality,” said Dr Tarang Gianchandani, medical director and acting CEO of the hospital. “She has been eating all her meals and is co-operating in the treatment.”
The case will be the first major test for the new anti-rape law, which provides for the guilty to be kept behind bars throughout their lives in gang-rape cases.
“Where a woman is raped by one or more persons constituting a group…they shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than 20 years and which may extend to the remainder of these persons’ lives,” says the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, which came into existence in April following the outrage over the Delhi gang-rape.
But much will depend on the swiftness of the police in arresting the accused and preparing the charge sheet. Maharashtra home minister RR Patil has said the case will be fast-tracked and the charge-sheet will be filed within seven days.
In Delhi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said, “It is a heinous crime… I am saddened and pained.”
The gang-rape resonated in the Lok Sabha, too, with members voicing concern that such incidents continue despite stringent laws. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said a report has been sought from the state government and home minister Sushilkumar Shinde will make a statement in the House on Monday.
Source : hindustantimes.com
Bangali will be produced with two other accused before a holiday court on Sunday. On Saturday, the police arrested Vijay Jadhav alias Nanu and Siraj Rehman alias Ashfaq. The first accused Chand Abdul Sattar Shaikh was arrested on Friday whose grandmother later claimed that he was a minor.
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| Photojournalists in Guwahati, with black bands around their mouths, participate in a protest against the gang-rape of a photojournalist in Mumbai. (AP Photo) |
"Bangali is the oldest of the five accused and was one of the three who took turns to rape the survivor," said a police official. Shaikh and Jadhav were produced before the holiday magistrate court at Bhoiwada in central Mumbai separately and were both remanded to police custody till August 30. The case has been transferred to the Mumbai crime branch.
The photojournalist was on a work assignment on Thursday evening to the isolated Shakti Mill Compound with a male colleague when five men pretending to be railway employees accosted them. They separated the 22-year-old woman from her colleague on the pretext of questioning them separately. The woman was later raped while her colleague was assaulted and tied up.
According to reports, the crime might be premeditated as the woman had visited the compound earlier as well for photo shoots. Allegedly, one of the accused had spotted her there and hatched a conspiracy to rape her. Two of the accused have past criminal cases against them.
The survivor, who is undergoing treatment at Jaslok Hospital, was shifted to the floor that comprises VIP suites.
“She is very brave and is coping with the reality,” said Dr Tarang Gianchandani, medical director and acting CEO of the hospital. “She has been eating all her meals and is co-operating in the treatment.”
The case will be the first major test for the new anti-rape law, which provides for the guilty to be kept behind bars throughout their lives in gang-rape cases.
“Where a woman is raped by one or more persons constituting a group…they shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than 20 years and which may extend to the remainder of these persons’ lives,” says the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, which came into existence in April following the outrage over the Delhi gang-rape.
But much will depend on the swiftness of the police in arresting the accused and preparing the charge sheet. Maharashtra home minister RR Patil has said the case will be fast-tracked and the charge-sheet will be filed within seven days.
In Delhi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said, “It is a heinous crime… I am saddened and pained.”
The gang-rape resonated in the Lok Sabha, too, with members voicing concern that such incidents continue despite stringent laws. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said a report has been sought from the state government and home minister Sushilkumar Shinde will make a statement in the House on Monday.
Source : hindustantimes.com
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