Claiming innocence in the December 16 gangrape case,Mukesh,one of the accused in the case,told the Saket fast track court on Wednesday that he was driving the bus while five others were present in the bus at the time of the incident. A 23-year-old woman,who was raped and tortured in the moving bus before being thrown out along with a male friend,died in a Singapore hospital 13 days after the assault. In his testimony,Mukesh said all the other accused in the case his brother Ram Singh,Vinay,Pawan,Akshay and a minor being tried by the Juvenile Justice Board were in the bus when the rape allegedly took place. After his counsel expressed apprehension that Mukesh may be harmed,Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Yogesh Khanna directed the Tihar Jail superintendent and lock-up in-charge of Saket court to provide him additional security and escort him to and from the court,separately from the other accused in the case. Ram Singh was found dead in Tihar Jail on March 11. Mukesh told the court that Ram Singh and the minor accused were calling passengers,shouting Dwarka and Palam More as he drove the bus from Munirka. He said the witness in the case the male friend of the victim flagged the bus. Once they boarded,the lights in the bus were switched off as the bus reached the flyover near Malai Mandir. There was a quarrel going on inside the bus but I am unaware of the details, Mukesh said. I was in the drivers cabin the entire time. the door of the cabin was shut. I do not know what went on at the back of the bus, he said in response to ASJ Khannas query whether he could hear the cries of the victim. He maintained that the victim and her friend were not thrown off the moving vehicle. They were dumped after the bus stopped for some time. I could not identify who disposed them off, Mukesh said. He said he found torn clothes of the couple strewn inside the bus when Akshay and the minor accused were cleaning the bus at 12.30 am. I was standing outside the bus,while the bus was being cleaned, Mukesh said. The male friend of the victim had earlier told the court that Mukesh and Ram Singh had taken turns at driving and both had joined the others in assaulting him and raping the woman at the rear of the bus. Mukesh claimed that this was not true. He denied participation in the rape or in the assault or in looting of valuables from the couple or in cleaning the bus. Mukesh claimed that Ram Singh drove the bus every other day. He had gone to pick up Ram Singh that evening from Munirka since he was drunk. In reference to the events after the incident,Mukesh claimed that he was arrested by the police on December 18 at 2 pm and produced before the victims male friend at 4 pm for identification. He claimed that this occurred before the Test Identification Parade which took place later on December 20. Mukesh shall continue with his testimony on Thursday.
