Mumbai gang-rape accused taken to Shakti Mills Compound, the scene of crime
The five men accused of assaulting and raping a 22-year-old photojournalist in Mumbai last week, have been brought to the abandoned textile mill in south Mumbai where they allegedly committed the crime.
Senior police officers have taken the accused, Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav, Chand Sheikh, Kasim Bangali and Siraj Rehman Khan for a crime reconstruction to the Shakti Mills Compound, where last Thursday, the young girl and her colleague had gone on assignment before being savagely attacked.
The police said the exercise was to corroborate every detail to build a strong case before it goes to court.
The five men allegedly held a broken beer bottle to the photojournalist's head while taking turns to rape her, after tying up her colleague in belts.
Before they let her go, they also asked her to clean up the scene of the horrific crime, say police sources. They also took two photos of her on a cellphone and warned that if she reported them, they would release the photos on social networks.
Police sources say the accused have admitted to raping two other girls in the same compound and molesting a third girl.
The brutal gang-rape triggered outrage across India and revived the debate about the safety of women in India, even in a city like Mumbai that had been seen as relatively safer.
The survivor, an intern with an English magazine, is recovering in hospital. She has told visitors that "rape is not the end of life" and she hopes to get back to work soon.