2012 Delhi gangrape: Boyfriend, politician planned it, Defence lawyer tells SC

New Delhi, Aug 9: In the sensational 2012 Delhi gangrape case, defence lawyer M L Sharma on Tuesday, Aug 9, made shocking revelations. In a statement to the Supreme Court, the lawyer claimed that the entire incident was planned to score 'political mileage'.

Sharma said that the planning was done on the night of December 16, 2012 itself by a politician with the complicity of victim's boyfriend.

Sharma, who is representing accused Mukesh and Pawan was quoted by Indiatimes as saying, "After paying Rs 10,000 to his brother Ram Singh (one of the accused who committed suicide in Tihar jail during the trial) the politician and male companion of the victim assured him of protection from all problems, but they ditched him. Being frustrated, Ram Singh decided to reveal everything to the trial court and the media".

"After this information reached these persons, they got him killed. But it was called a suicide", Sharma claimed.

Sharma has alleged that Ram Singh's brother Mukesh was also tortured to such an extent that he spoke police's version in the court.

"Mukesh now knows that he is sure to be hanged. So he wants to disclose all facts. Till now he did not dare to do so due to fear of being killed", the lawyer informed the apex court.

Convict writes to CJI

Recently, one of the four death row convicts wrote to the Chief Justice of India T S Thakur, seeking his permission to remain present in the court room during hearings in the matter, his counsel said on Friday.

Convict Akshay, who is at present lodged in Tihar Jail, alleged in a letter, written to President Pranab Mukherjee and apex court judge Justice Dipak Misra, who is heading the bench hearing his appeal, that the sessions court and the high court have not given him a fair chance of being heard.

The letter, copies of which were circulated by his counsel A P Singh to the media, comes nearly three weeks after two other convicts - Pawan and Vinay wrote to the CJI, seeking removal of two senior advocates appointed as amicus curiae in the case. In his letter, Akshay said he wanted to attend hearings in the matter before the apex court to see how his case is being heard.

He also claimed that since the telecast of the BBC documentary on the gang rape incident, his entire family is being traumatised and his son has stopped going to school, in order to avoid being harassed.

He said the documentary showed only victim's side of the story due to which his family was feeling humiliated and he was apprehending a mishap in the family. He also claimed that the sessions court and the high court had done injustice to the convicts by denying them copies of the judgements and hearings in Hindi.

Sensational rape case

On the night of December 16, 2012, Ram Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh and a juvenile had gangraped a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a moving bus and also beaten up her 28-year-old male friend, who was accompanying her.

While the girl succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital, the victim's friend, suffered grievous hurt in the incident. The incident had sparked nationwide protests and outrage.

The juvenile accused was on August 31, 2013 convicted and sentenced to three years at a rehabilitation centre, while four others were awarded death penalty.

Four convicts approached the apex court against the Delhi High Court's March 13, 2014 verdict which had observed that their offence fell in "the rarest of rare category" and had upheld the death sentence awarded to them by the trial court.

OneIndia News

(with inputs from agencies)