Cops took the five gang-rape accused back to Shakti Mills where they narrated the sequence of events of the crime; besides videographing the enactment as evidence, cops also retrieved a dupatta used by the accused to clean themselves
The Mumbai Crime Branch on Wednesday recreated the crime scene at Shakti Mills compound near Mahalaxmi station, after accompanying the five accused to the spot. The entire narration was videographed.u00a0The police added that they will also be recording a supplementary statement from the survivor, who has been discharged fromhospital.
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Trail of evidence: Led by Jt CP Himanshu Roy, a team of police officials took the 5 accused to Shakti Mills compound. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar
Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy and officers from Unit III of the Crime Branch -- which is investigating the case --visited the spot where the 22-year-old photojournalist was gang-raped by the five men, who were later identified and arrested.
The aim of the exercise was to understand how and where the accused first met the woman and her colleague, and how they accosted her afterward to assault her.
Crime scene
“The accused showed us the spot where they first met the woman and showed her the way to enter the mill. Then they showed us where they had tied up her colleague before they raped her. Later, they also showed us the path they took to take them near the station,” said the police officer.
“We had made a female constable pose as the survivor and a male constable as her colleague. The five accused explained the scene of crime, which we videographed as evidence,” said a police officer from the Crime Branch.
“The Shakti Mills compound is an eight-acre jungle in the heart of the city,” said Roy.The police have also recovered a dupatta from the crime scene, the owner of which is unknown. They have learnt that the accused had used it to wipe themselves clean after the rape. This could be a crucial piece of evidence for
the police.
Cops will add Section 377 and relevant sections dealing with conspiracy to the charges against the accused, as they have been proved in course of investigations. “We will also record an additional statement from the survivor. The first statement was taken late at night, and she had just survived the horrific crime. Now that she is more relaxed, we want to see if she can give us more evidence,” said a Crime Branch official.u00a0
Survivor discharged from hospital
The 22-year-old photojournalist has been discharged from hospital after doctors attending to her declared her “medically fit”.“The patient had improved steadily and our team of specially assigned doctors declared the patient medically fit for discharge last evening.0 Hence, she was discharged late last night,” said a statement from Jaslok Hospital, where she was admitted after the assault.u00a0“Best quality medical care was given to the patient at all times at the hospital,” said the statement, issued by Dr Tarang Gianchandani, acting CEO and director, Medical Services, Jaslok Hospital.The communication also thanked the authorities for their support.u00a0
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