The alibi of two December 16 gang-rape accused was shot down by a DDA official here on Monday. The official told a special court here that the accused’s claim that they were attending a musical function at a DDA park on the night of the incident is false as the agency does not allow such events there.
The prosecution brought the DDA official as its witness to counter the claim of Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta. They had said in their statements that they were not on the bus where the 23-year-old girl was gang-raped.
Their relatives, who had deposed as defence witnesses in the case, had also said that the two were not on the bus.
“We have a district park in Hauz Khas, opposite IIT gate, adjoining R. K. Khanna Tennis Stadium. This area is a protected forest. As per norms prescribed in the Forest Act, no public function is allowed to be held in the park and permission for such a function has never been given. On December 16, 2012, no such function was held in the park and no large gathering took place in it,” the DDA official told Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna.
During the recording of the statements of the DDA official and two members of a church who appeared as prosecution witnesses, special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan said that neither the DDA nor the church had organised any function at the park on December 16. He said the accused had committed the crime on the bus along with the other four accused. The court had on August 8 issued summons to the three witnesses after the police moved an application calling for material witnesses to establish that these two accused were not at the park and were present on the bus.
