Danish woman gangrape: Court reserves judgement for Jan 21

A Delhi court today reserved for January 21 its judgement in a case in which a 52-year-old Danish woman was allegedly gangraped by nine persons including three juveniles here two years ago.
Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja fixed the case for pronouncement of the verdict after concluding hearing the final arguments from the prosecution and the counsel for accused.
"Arguments of defence concluded. The case is directed to be listed for judgement on January 21. Defence is also at liberty to file written arguments, if any, within two days from today," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, nine accused, all vagabonds, had allegedly robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers' Club near New Delhi Railway Station.

All the nine accused were arrested. The six adult accused - Mahendra alias Ganja (26), Mohd Raja (22), Raju (23), Arjun (21), Raju Chakka (22) and Shyam Lal (55) - are in judicial custody and facing trial.
Three of the accused were juveniles against whom inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) is in progress.

The nine accused are facing charges of alleged gangrape, kidnapping, wrongful confinement, dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt, criminal intimidation and receiving stolen property under the IPC.
Advocate Dinesh Sharma, appearing for the accused, argued that the case was based on circumstantial evidence and as the chain of circumstances was incomplete, it would be highly unsafe to believe the prosecution's evidence.

"The onus lies with prosecution to prove how my (accused) biological samples were found on the woman's clothes. I was taken into custody by police and, thereafter, they manipulated the case property behind my back and planted my samples on the woman's clothes," he argued.
Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava has argued there was sufficient evidence to prove the ill intent of the accused and it was they who had committed of the crime.
He had also said that on the night of the incident, the woman had sought directions to her destination from the accused persons, who, on the garb of guiding her, took her to a secluded spot and raped her.

"The accused took the woman to a secluded place which amounts to kidnapping and this shows their ill intention as thereafter, they gangraped her, looted her articles and also threatened her," he had argued.
During recording of their testimonies, the six adult accused had claimed innocence and alleged that the police had falsely implicated them in the case.