Lawyer: Police beat Indian rape suspects
Source: Agencies |
January 11, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
POLICE badly beat the five suspects arrested in the brutal gang rape and killing of a young woman on a New Delhi bus, the lawyer for one of the men said yesterday, accusing authorities of tampering with evidence in the case that has transfixed India.
"They are innocent," Manohar Lal Sharma said of the five suspects ahead of a court hearing, which ended quickly after it turned out some of the official court paperwork listing the charges was illegible. He said police have beaten the men and placed other prisoners into the suspects' cells to threaten them with knives, adding, "You can't believe the reality of Indian prisons."
Five men have been charged with attacking the 23-year-old woman and a male friend on a bus as it was driven through the streets of India's capital. The woman was raped and assaulted with a metal bar on December 16 and eventually died of her injuries. Rape victims are not identified in India, even if they die, and rape trials are closed to the media.
Sharma, who has made a series of inflammatory and often-contradictory statements over the past two days, at one point said the dead woman's male companion, who boarded the bus with her after the pair saw a movie together, was "responsible for the whole thing." He gave no details, though, and a few hours later said the man's responsibility "was only my opinion."
The case has sparked protests across India by women and men who say India's legal system doesn't do enough to prevent attacks on women. Women have told stories of relentless abuse - from catcalls to bus gropings to rapes - and of a police and judicial system that does little to stop it, often blaming victims' unchaste behavior.
The woman and her male friend were coming home from a movie at a New Delhi mall when they boarded a bus that police say was carrying the defendants, who were traveling together on a joy ride through the city. The woman's friend, who has not been identified, has said he tried to defend the woman but was soon beaten unconscious. Authorities say the two were later dumped off the bus, naked and bloody.
Sharma said that authorities, under pressure to quickly wrap up the case, would convict the suspects no matter what evidence, including forcing them to make incriminating statements.
"What happened to this woman was so heinous, so horrible," Sharma said, adding that, "the police will manipulate the facts."
Sharma also said that the woman's companion was ultimately responsible. "The boyfriend betrayed" her, he said. "The boyfriend is responsible for the whole thing," he said, before backing away from the statement later in the day.
Sharma spoke to reporters before a hearing for the suspects in a New Delhi court complex.
The suspects' faces were covered by scarves or hats while in court and were surrounded by policemen.
"They are innocent," Manohar Lal Sharma said of the five suspects ahead of a court hearing, which ended quickly after it turned out some of the official court paperwork listing the charges was illegible. He said police have beaten the men and placed other prisoners into the suspects' cells to threaten them with knives, adding, "You can't believe the reality of Indian prisons."
Five men have been charged with attacking the 23-year-old woman and a male friend on a bus as it was driven through the streets of India's capital. The woman was raped and assaulted with a metal bar on December 16 and eventually died of her injuries. Rape victims are not identified in India, even if they die, and rape trials are closed to the media.
Sharma, who has made a series of inflammatory and often-contradictory statements over the past two days, at one point said the dead woman's male companion, who boarded the bus with her after the pair saw a movie together, was "responsible for the whole thing." He gave no details, though, and a few hours later said the man's responsibility "was only my opinion."
The case has sparked protests across India by women and men who say India's legal system doesn't do enough to prevent attacks on women. Women have told stories of relentless abuse - from catcalls to bus gropings to rapes - and of a police and judicial system that does little to stop it, often blaming victims' unchaste behavior.
The woman and her male friend were coming home from a movie at a New Delhi mall when they boarded a bus that police say was carrying the defendants, who were traveling together on a joy ride through the city. The woman's friend, who has not been identified, has said he tried to defend the woman but was soon beaten unconscious. Authorities say the two were later dumped off the bus, naked and bloody.
Sharma said that authorities, under pressure to quickly wrap up the case, would convict the suspects no matter what evidence, including forcing them to make incriminating statements.
"What happened to this woman was so heinous, so horrible," Sharma said, adding that, "the police will manipulate the facts."
Sharma also said that the woman's companion was ultimately responsible. "The boyfriend betrayed" her, he said. "The boyfriend is responsible for the whole thing," he said, before backing away from the statement later in the day.
Sharma spoke to reporters before a hearing for the suspects in a New Delhi court complex.
The suspects' faces were covered by scarves or hats while in court and were surrounded by policemen.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
