The 22-year-old photojournalist of an English magazine, who is undergoing treatment at Jaslok hospital after she was gangraped, has told the police that the five accused raped her six times by threatening her with the sharp pieces of a broken beer bottle.

The police claimed to have made a breakthrough in the Shakti Mill gangrape case by arresting one of the five accused that raped the 22-year-old photojournalist on Thursday.

The Parliament on Friday witnessed uproar over the shocking and brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old photojournalist in Mumbai even as the Union home ministry stepped in seeking a report from the state government on the incident assuring harshest action against the culprits.

The medical condition of the 22-year-old gangrape victim, who is being treated at the Jaslok Hospital on Peddar Road in south Bombay, is said to be “stable”.

In the backdrop of the horrific gangrape in the heart of the island city, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Friday condemned the incident and asked all the women to present their bangles to home minister R.R. Patil. He also demanded the home minister’s resignation over the incident.

Actress Madhuri Dixit and actress-turned politician Jaya Bachchan will be the recipients of the prestigious Lachchhu Maharaj award. Shakun-tala Neeruj Sansthan director Kumkum Adarsh said that while Ms Bachchan would be given the award for 2012, Madhuri Dixit will be given the honour for 2013.

India’s quest for energy security has got a major fillip with the inking of a pact with Iraq that will enable it to work in tandem with the oil-rich country in the fields of oil exploration, petrochemical complexes and natural gas.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said that India is looking forward to further strengthening its relations with Iraq as an “equity” partner in oil exploration and petrochemicals.

Shiromani Akali Dal president and Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Salman Khurshid to immediately take up the issue of the proposed legislation to apply ban on turban and kirpan of Sikhs residing in Quebec province of Canada and said that the Union government’s timely intervention with its Canadian counterpart was imperative to safeguard the rights and interests of the Sikhs.

The BJP on Friday made a strong plea to the government for making efforts to bring back Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails who are dying or have completed their jail terms.