New Delhi:
The statement of the 23-year-old medical student who was gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi last weekend has been recorded again, this time before a Metropolitan Magistrate. This is the second time that her statement has been recorded.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this case:
Amanat's (NOT her real name) statement was first recorded on Friday night by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Vivek Vihar. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate had alleged that senior Delhi Police officers tried to interfere with the crucial process of recording the rape survivor's statement.
Amanat, who is battling for her life at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, has reportedly narrated the same sequence of events. Her statement will be used in the trial of the six men arrested for the gang-rape. But just like the first time, this time too her statement has not been recorded on camera.
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate claims that three police officers, who she has named, tried to dissuade the young woman's mother from letting her record her statement on camera. Police sources have countered the magistrate, saying it was not them, but the student's mother, who did not want the 23-year-old's testimony to be video-taped. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate, however, has not questioned the contents of the statement or suggested that it was influenced by the three police officers who she accuses to trying to intimidate her.
Following the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's complaint, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had written to the Home Minister asking for an independent inquiry into the magistrate's allegations. The Home Ministry is likely to accept the Chief Minister's demand, sources have said.
Delhi Police has strongly refuted the allegations of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. "We requested for a woman SDM for recording of the statement...there was no police interference in SDM's recording of statement...No questionnaire was given to the SDM by the police...SDM recorded everyone's statement without any complaint," Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said.
Delhi Police constable Subhash Tomar, who was seriously injured during the violent protest against the gang-rape of a young medical student turned violent at India Gate on Sunday, died at a hospital in the capital this morning. His was cremated with full state honours. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Minister of State for Home RPN Singh were among those who attended his funeral.
Eight people, including one activist of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, who were arrested in connection with the attack on constable Tomar, have now been charged with murder.
Under intense criticism for its handling of the anti-rape protests in the capital over the weekend, the Delhi Police has apologised. In a late-night tweet on Monday, the Delhi Police said, "We sincerely regret if any innocent protester was hurt or lathi-charged and apologise."
Doctors attending to Amanat at Safdarjung Hospital said today that she has fever but is relatively better than yesterday. They also said that she is conscious, alert and communicating and added that her internal bleeding has reduced.
President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed "deep distress" over the recent gang-rape of a girl in Delhi but cautioned that though anger over the "ghastly incident" was "justified", violence was "no solution".
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