One of the accused in December 16 gang rape case on Friday claimed before a special court that he had never seen the 23-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by six persons in a moving bus and had only heard about it.
Accused Akshay Thakur in his statement before Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna also said he was not among the group of men who had raped the girl and assaulted her male friend.
"I have already said that I was not present in Delhi as I had left for my village on December 15, 2012. If I was not in Delhi, then how is it possible that I was a member of the group? Even I don't know the girl and have never seen her," Akshay told the judge.
He denied the allegation of the prosecution that the victim had in her statement written his name.
"The girl had not written my name. The writing/statement is fabricated by Delhi police official," the accused said, adding the SHO of Vasant Vihar police station here had told him in the lock-up that "the number of accused in the case is completed."
As per the police, on December 16, a female physiotherapy intern was beaten up and gangraped in a bus in which she was travelling with her male friend who was also brutally attacked with an iron rod.
There were six others in the bus, including the driver, Ram Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh all of whom had raped the girl, it had said.
The victim died of her injuries on December 29 last year while undergoing treatment in a SingaporeHospital.
During the trial, Ram Singh was found dead in Tihar jail on March 11 and court proceedings against him stand abated.
The sixth accused, a juvenile, faced an inquiry before the juvenile justice board.
Akshay in his statement further said he was falsely implicated in the case.
He also denied the allegation of the police that he along with other five co-accused had robbed and beaten up Ramadhar, a carpenter, who was lured into the bus before the girl was picked up and gangraped in the moving bus.
Appearing as a prosecution witness, the carpenter had identified the four accused, present in the court, as those who had robbed and assaulted him on the night of the incident.
While recording his statement, Akshay further said he does not know why the prosecution witness had deposed against him in the case.
"I can only say when I was brought to Delhi from my native village, I was badly beaten up at Saket Police lock-up.
I was also forced to signed a blank paper on gun point.
"I was shown to the complainant (the victim's friend) at the police station. The complainant was asked to identify me as one of the accused in the case," he said.
On being told by the judge that there is medical evidence against him that the cut mark on the victim's body matches with him, Akshay replied in the negative saying "how is it possible if I was not present in the bus"?
Akshay, whose recording of statement concluded on Friday, also told the judge that during the police remand he was not taken to any place for any recovery at his instance in the case. "Whatever evidence they (police) have shown before the court is planted upon me," Akshay said.
