Dec 16 convicts claim innocence in robbery case

Two men convicted in the Dec 16, 2012 gang rape, who are facing trial for allegedly robbing a carpenter on the same day, Saturday claimed before a court here that they had not beaten up or robbed the victim.

Mukesh and Pawan Gupta are facing trial for allegedly beating up and robbing carpenter Ram Adhar, before raping and assaulting a 23-year-old girl in a bus here.

Mukesh, recording his statement before Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash, said he was not in the bus.

"On Dec 16, 2012, I was not in the bus. This is a concocted case prepared by the prosecution at the behest of police," he said, adding that he was falsely implicated in the case.

Another accused Pawan Gupta also claimed he was not in the bus and had gone to a music function organised by a church in the DDA district park in south Delhi along with co-accused Vinay.

On March 7, the two other convicts in the gang rape case - Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur - had also claimed innocence.

While Vinay Sharma said he had gone to the music event, Akshay Thakur said he was not in the bus since he had left for his village in Bihar a day prior to the incident.

The court concluded recording of the statements of the accused and fixed the matter for April 4 while asking them to file a list of defence witnesses.

The four have been sentenced to death in the Dec 16 gang rape case. The court Jan 10 concluded its evidence in the robbery case. A total of 37 prosecution witnesses were examined.