Gangrape case: Plea urging judge to recuse from trial rejected

A sessions court conducting trial in the July 31 gangrape case of a telephone operator on the Shakti Mills premises, today rejected the application filed by three accused urging the judge to recuse herself from the trial.
"The court rejected our application on the ground that the accused has already written to the Bombay High Court seeking transfer of trial to some other court," Defence advocate Moin Khan said.
Sessions court Principal Judge Shalini Phansalkar Josi had earlier rejected the application seeking to transfer the trial to some other court.
In the transfer application, the accused had said that the points put forth by the defence were not brought on record.

Police had arrested Mohammed Ashfaq Sheikh, Mohamed Kasim Hafiz Sheikh alias Kasim Bangali, Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav and a minor for the gangrape of the 18-year-old telephone operator.
On October 8, the police had filed a 362-page chargesheet against the four accused. The minor's case was separated.
In another case that took place at the same place on August 22, a journalist, who was interning with an English magazine here, was gangraped by five persons, including a juvenile, whose trial is separated, when she had gone to the deserted mill compound with her male colleague on an assignment.
Three accused - Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali, Salim Ansari- are are common in both the gangrapes.