Dec 16 rape: Prosecution finishes evidence

A Delhi court holding the trial in the Dec 16 gang rape Monday completed recording of the evidence of prosecution witnesses in the case of the brutal torture and gang-rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student by six men in a moving bus, leading to her death.

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna fixed Wednesday to begin recording of statements of the accused who will explain the circumstances appearing in the evidence against them in response to queries put by the judge.

Meanwhile, a woman sub-inspector at Vasant Vihar police station, deposing as 80th witness for the prosecution, told the court that she had arrested one of the accused after the incident was reported.

The officer said that she had arrested Pawan Gupta and also seized the clothes worn by him on the night of the incident.

"Accused Pawan Gupta was arrested on Dec 18, 2012. Five police personnel were with me when I arrested him. I had recorded the disclosure statement of Pawan in the police station," she added.

The woman officer had also arrested prime accused Ram Singh in the case. Later, Vinay and Mukesh were apprehended and they had led the investigators to important evidence in the case.

On Dec 21, 2012, a juvenile was apprehended from Anand Vihar bus terminal in east Delhi. The last arrest in the case was Akshay Thakur who was apprehended from Bihar's Aurangabad.

The officer has also denied Gupta's claim that the blood sample on his clothes was planted by her at the instance of some senior official to falsely implicate him.

The case relates to a woman who was brutally tortured and gang-raped in a moving bus by five men and a juvenile, after she boarded the vehicle with her male friend.

The juvenile is facing proceedings before a Juvenile Justice Board where order has been reserved, while the four other accused were put up for trial in the fast-track court. One of the accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail, where he was lodged.