hi: A Delhi court on Tuesday issued fresh summons to a 52-year-old Danish woman, who was allegedly gang-raped by eight persons here last year, to appear before it on July 1 for recording of her testimony.
The court issued the summons again as the earlier one, issued on January 13, could not be served upon the woman to secure her presence as a prosecution witness and Delhi Police had sought some time for calling her here.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kaveri Baweja directed that fresh summons be issued to the woman, who is residing in Denmark, as per the guidelines of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) which require a processing time of at least three months.
“I have been informed by the investigating officer (IO) today that some correspondence is going on with the authorities concerned at Denmark.”
“It is directed that fresh summons be issued to the victim as per the guidelines of MEA which require at least three months time for processing. It is directed that summons be issued to the victim for July 1,” the judge said.
The police, in its chargesheet, had said that the eight persons, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014 after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers’ Club near New Delhi Railway Station.
The eight accused, including two juveniles, were arrested in the case. The two juveniles are facing an inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board here.
Meanwhile, the court recorded statement of prosecution witness, Kuldeep Singh, who was earlier a receptionist at JPN International Hotel where the woman had stayed during her visit when the incident took place.
Singh, whose part statement was recording earlier, today brought a DVD containing the footage of CCTV installed at the Hotel showing the woman going out of the hotel in the morning and returning there in the evening after the incident. The DVD was played in the court on a laptop.
The witness identified the woman and also submitted that when she had gone out in the morning, she was wearing slacks and on returning to the hotel in the evening, she was seen wearing a loose lower (pyjama).During cross-examination by the counsel for the adult six accused, the witness denied the suggestion that the woman appeared to be intoxicated when she returned to the hotel and this was the reason that she denied undergoing medical examination.
He also said the police had requested her several times to undergo medical examination but she refused.
He had earlier deposed that the woman was staying in the hotel since January 1, 2014 and on the night of incident when she came back, her clothes were torn and she looked nervous.
He had said after some time, he saw the victim talking to a Canadian woman, who informed him that she has been raped and robbed by eight-nine persons.
The court has now fixed the case for March 31 for recording of statements of prosecution witnesses.
The court had earlier directed the IO to furnish a report regarding the procedure to secure the victim’s presence before the court for recording her statement in the absence of mutual legal assistance treaty between India and Denmark.
The court’s direction had come after the IO had informed it that the summon issued to the woman has returned unserved as India does not have a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) with Denmark.
The six adult accused — Mahendra alias Ganja (24), Mohd Raja (22), Raju (23), Arjun (21), Raju Chakka (22) and Shyam Lal (55) — are in judicial custody and facing trial.
The total eight accused have been booked under Sections 376(2)(g) (gangrape), 397 (robbery or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 392 (robbery) of IPC.
PTI