Complaint filed in Delhi court seeking FIR against sole witness: Nirbhaya gang rape case

New Delhi (PTI): The father of one of the four death-row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case moved a Delhi court Wednesday seeking an FIR against the sole witness in the case for allegedly giving interviews to various news channels after charging money, claiming it affected the case by "resulting into a media trial", his lawyers said.

The sole eyewitness, a friend of 23-year-old victim, was accompanying her in the bus when the gruesome incident took place and he had also sustained injuries. The complaint, filed by Heera Lal Gupta, father of Pawan Kumar Gupta, cited some recent media reports which alleged that witness charged money to appear for interviews on various news channels, advocate A P Singh said.

"This calls for independent investigation into the perjury that appears to have been committed by him (witness), being the sole witness, his testimony has strongly influenced the outcome of the case which led to the imposition of death penalty of the accused," the complaint said. Citing the reports, the advocate stated that "on the basis of said facts and circumstances, it is clear that the conduct of him clearly shows that his testimony was false and fabricated... This goes to the root of his testimony and if established would show that the testimony in in fact false."

"It is quite clear that the sole eyewitness in case has accumulated lakhs of rupees in bribe from various news channels...and thus affected the case by resulting in media trial," the complaint said. It said that based on witness' "false" testimony the accused in Nirbhaya gang rape case were convicted and given capital punishment.

The lawyer told the court that a complaint was filed with Delhi police to lodge an FIR in this regard, however, no action was taken. A Delhi court had recently directed Tihar Jail authorities to produce the four convicts before it on December 13 so that they can apprise the court about the status of their petitions. The court was hearing a plea by the victim's parents who have sought a direction to the jail authorities to expedite the execution of the convicts.

The victim's parents had approached the court saying the convicts have exhausted all legal remedies. In December last year, Nirbhaya's parents had approached the court to fast-track the procedure to hang all four convicts in the case.

The Supreme Court on December 12, 2018 had dismissed a PIL seeking direction to the Centre to execute the death penalty awarded to the four convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay and Akshay -- in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. Nirbhaya is the changed name of the December 2012 gang rape-cum-murder victim, a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who was gang-raped and brutalised in moving bus in South Delhi by six persons, including the bus driver, conductors and helpers.

The woman had boarded the nearly vacant bus in Munirka in South Delhi along with her male friend on her way back home on December 16 that year. After raping and brutalising the woman and beating her friend, the assailants had thrown them out of the bus. After receiving initial treatment in New Delhi for a few days, she was transferred to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, where she succumbed to injuries on December 29, 2012.