MYSURU: A day after five accused in Mysuru gang-rape case were taken into police custody for 10 days, the city police took four of them to the scene of crime at Lalithadripura hillock for mahazar on Monday. One of the accused who claims that he is 17 years old and so a juvenile, was left out of the procedure.
With their heads covered with a black cloth, the accused were brought to the spot by the police team led by DCP (Law and Order) Pradeep Gunti around 5pm. The rain delayed the process by 30 minutes and police collected information about the incident from them till 7pm. More than two dozen cops were present at the spot. The biggest challenge for cops in the case is building the evidence to get a conviction for all the accused.
The accused are likely to be taken for another visit on Tuesday too.
Explaining the procedure, an officer said that crime scene reconstruction is the process of determining the sequence of events that occurred during and after a crime. The idea is to understand how the crime was planned and committed. “First the investigation officer has to confirm the exact spot of the crime by questioning each accused separately to build a strong evidence. This is important and about 50% of the investigation is over if the verification of spot matches with what each accused has told,” added the official.
“Secondly, the process is to extract information from all accused about the incident and how it happened. This has to be done separately. The process is done as per the provisions of Indian Evidence Act,” he added.
Goods vehicle driver under scanner
City police have identified the seventh accused in the case. His role in the crime is being examined.
Meanwhile, the sixth accused is still at large. A search for him in neighbouring Tamil Nadu is on.
Initially, it was believed that only six were involved in the heinous act, an officer told TOI. After the arrest of the five accused on Saturday, the name of another accused cropped up. He had brought all the accused to Mysuru from Tamil Nadu in his goods vehicle. According to the arrested accused, he was in the vehicle at the time of the crime. Whether the youth was aware of the plans of the accused and their crime is being verified, the officer stated.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
