Three accused in Delhi gangrape case face charges under BNS, POCSO Act

Delhi Police has filed a 450-page chargesheet against three men accused of gangraping a 17-year-old girl at knifepoint in south Delhi's Aastha Kunj Park. The document includes statements from 57 witnesses, CCTV footage and forensic evidence

New Delhi: Delhi Police has filed a 450-page chargesheet against three men accused of posing as police personnel before allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl at knifepoint inside south Delhi’s Aastha Kunj Park in September.

The chargesheet, filed before a court on Friday, names Mohammad Asif, Hemant Singh and Mukesh Singh as accused and includes statements from 57 witnesses.

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Investigators have relied on CCTV footage, call detail records (CDRs), forensic evidence and the victim’s statement to establish the sequence of events and the alleged involvement of the accused.

According to the chargesheet, the incident took place on the evening of September 21, when the girl was at the park with her 17-year-old male friend to celebrate her birthday.

The accused allegedly approached the duo around 7 pm, introduced themselves as police personnel and questioned their presence in the park. They then assaulted the boy and snatched the teenagers’ mobile phones.

When the girl asked them to contact her mother, the accused allegedly threatened her with a pistol before taking the boy to a secluded part of the park.

In her statement cited in the chargesheet, the girl alleged that the accused threatened her with knives and sexually assaulted her one after another.

She subsequently identified the accused during the investigation and recalled their nicknames, which she had heard during the incident, according to the chargesheet.

Police have cited CCTV footage from the park and adjoining areas that allegedly captured the accused moving around the premises on multiple occasions, including on the day of the crime.

The chargesheet also refers to CDRs showing the accused’s presence in the park around the time of the incident. Investigators have alleged that Asif called the other two men during the crime.

Police have also seized the clothes allegedly worn by the accused, weapons, the motorcycle used in their escape and other material evidence from the crime scene. The chargesheet incorporates findings from the forensic science laboratory (FSL), including the analysis of biological samples and deleted data recovered from mobile phones.

Asif was arrested on September 22 following a brief exchange of fire near the District Magistrate’s office in Amar Colony. The other two accused, who are brothers, were arrested from their residence in Srinivaspuri in south Delhi.

The three have been charged under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those relating to gangrape, criminal conspiracy, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation. They have also been charged under Sections 6 and 17 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.