Photojournalist, colleague identify other 4 accused

S Ahmed Ali TNN

september 7,2013
Mumbai: Two days after a photojournalist, who was allegedly gangraped in Shakti Mills compound, and her male colleague recognized the 17-year-old accused in an identification parade, the duo identified the other four accused in another identification parade on Friday.
    Also, the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) medical reports on Friday confirmed that the five accused had raped the survivor. The reports, confirming that the survivor’s vaginal swabs matched the samples of the five men, are the second crucial technical evidence to nail the accused. Last week, the DNA samples of the accused had matched those taken from the survivor.
    The photojournalist was sexually assaulted in the defunct Shakti Mills on August 22, when she had gone there on an
assignment with her colleague.
    Friday’s identification parade was held at Byculla women’s jail at 11am, and was attended by an independent executive magistrate, two panchas (witnesses), the survivor, and her male colleague. “The survivor and her colleague took no time in identifying all the four accused. The entire session was recorded on video, which will be very useful during trial,” said an officer. For the first time, police also conducted an identification parade of beer bottles and other material, such as dupatta, recovered from the scene.
    Police are awaiting other reports from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad and reports of each of the accused from the Gujarat FSL.
    While Qasim Shaikh, Siraj Khan, Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav and a 17-year-old boy are the accused in the photojournalist’s alleged gangrape on August 22; Qasim, Ansari, Jadhav, his juvenile nephew, and Ashfaque Shaikh have been accused of raping an 18-year-old call centre employee on the same premises on July 31. Except Ashfaque, all others have been arrested.
    The teenager claimed that she had gone to Shakti Mills with her then boyfriend for some privacy, when the five men bound his hands with belts, tied him up to a tree using her dupatta and raped her.
    The couple eloped to Chhattisgarh, got married and returned to the city. Police have sent her dupatta and his shirt recovered from the spot on Wednesday for forensic tests. The reports are expected by Monday. Now, a molestation case against Siraj T he Agripada police on Thursday registered a fresh FIR against Siraj Khan, one of the five arrested in the alleged gangrape of a photojournalist in Shakti Mills, after a woman filed acomplaint alleging that he had tried to rape her mother at the same spot. Police have registered a case of molestation and kidnapping against Khan. On August 19, when the complainant’s mother went to attend nature’s call on the tracks, Khan had dragged her into the mill and tried to rape her. The complainant rescued her mother, who later succumbed to TB. She also alleged that initially the cops had not entertained her complaint as her mother was an alcoholic. TNN Plan for self-defence classes in schools T he state on Friday told the Bombay HC that it plans to issue a government resolution to introduce self-defence training in health and physical education in school curriculum. Assistant government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani said initially 96,000 girls from class IX and X in state schools will receive training. TNN