The father of one of the convicted murderers in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case has filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against the sole witness in the case.Hira Lal Gupta, father of convict Pawan Kumar Gupta, in his complaint to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Southwest Delhi and R.K. Puram police station, has said that the eyewitness in the case was a liar and has been making statements in the media after taking money.
Convict Pawan Kumar Gupta is lodged in Jail no. 14 of the Mandoli jail in Delhi. "I got to know through social media on October 12, 2019 that the friend of Nirbhaya who was made an eyewitness in the case, used to give statements for money," the complaint filed by Hira Lal Gupta on November 2, 2019 said. In his complaint, Gupta has raised questions on the investigation done by the police on the basis of which the accused were convicted.
Involvement of media
Gupta's plea mentions two to three senior journalists of a TV channel also as witnesses. A person who claims to be the former Managing Editor of a channel took to social media a few days ago and said that Nirbhaya's friend and the only eyewitness of the case used to take money before going to any channels to give statements/interviews. He also claims to have done a sting operation of the whole incident.
Though it also raises a question that why the TV channel didn't air the sting operation? The lawyer of the accused said: "The sting could have saved my clients. We will ask the Managing Editor to appear in the court along with the sting operation. The law is the same for everyone." Gupta said that he has also given the social media clippings with the plea, which will help the police in probing into the matter. He has also revealed the name of the Managing Editor of the channel in his application.
"If this is true that the only witness in the case gave TV interviews for money, then we will resort to every legal method to protect our clients. Why should our clients face the brunt of perjury? How will the court trust the witness whose intentions are doubtful?" Senior Supreme Court lawyer A. P. Singh, who represents three of the four convicted, told IANS on Wednesday. Station In-charge (SHO)) of the R.K. Puram police station Ravindra Malik told IANS on Wednesday: "Yes we have received the complaint."
The FIR of the Nirbhaya gang-rape case was registered in the Vasant Vihar police station, but the application against the eyewitness has been registered at R.K. Puram police station. "We tried to file the complaint at the Vasant Vihar police station, but the SHO was evasive. Then, we filed the complaint at the office of DCP Devendra Arya," Singh told IANS. Ravi Shankar, SHO Vasant Vihar police station, told IANS: "They came to me with the complaint but since they live in R. K. Puram so I didn't register the complaint here."
