Dec. 16 accused: No role in crime
One accused in the December 16 gangrape case on Wednesday denied raping the victim, attacking her friend or robbing them but admitted in the court that he was driving the bus on the fateful night.
Trying to wash his hands off the crime, accused Mukesh claimed before additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna that he was only driving the bus.
Asked if he was aware that his brother Ram Singh picked up a fight with the victim’s friend after the two boarded the bus and that the friend was attacked with an iron rod, Mukesh said, “I don’t know about the iron rod but there was a fight between the victim’s friend and the other accused.”
He further said that the lights in the bus were switched off after sometime. “The lights inside the bus were put off near Malai Mandir. Thereafter, I don’t know what they did with the girl.”
When asked by the judge if he heard the victim’s cries for help, he said “I did not hear anything, the door of the driver’s cabin was closed.” He denied raping the victim saying he kept on driving the bus. “I don’t know who threw them off the bus as the lights were off.”
Mukesh said he was driving the bus while his elder brother Ram Singh (since deceased) and the juvenile were calling passengers. “Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma were sitting behind the driver’s seat, Akshay Thakur was in the driver’s cabin,” he added.
“My brother used to drive the bus daily but that day he was heavily drunk.”
He said that he parked the bus in R.K. Puram Sector-3 in front of Ravi Das Camp in south Delhi.
“I parked the bus. When I was cleaning the bus at around 12.30 pm, I saw the clothes of the girl and her friend. Accused Akshay and the juvenile were also cleaning the bus,” he said.
The deposition will continue on Thursday. Tihar superintendent and Saket Court lock up incharge have been directed to transport Mukesh alone after he said that he may be harmed by other co-accused.
Post new comment