HYDERABAD: The five-day police custody of three juveniles accused in the 17-year-old girl’s gang rape case in Jubilee Hills will begin on Friday. During the custody, the three Children in Conflict with the Law (CCLs) will be questioned by a team of police officers in plain-clothes on the premises of a juvenile home.
The Jubilee Hills police, while seeking the custody of the three CCLs, informed the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) that their custodial questioning is needed to conduct a potency test, crime scene reconstruction. They would also try to extract more details about the chain of events that led to the offence and ascertain if more persons were involved in the offence as is being widely alleged. A potency test is conducted by forensic experts to ascertain if the accused is capable of performing a sexual act or not.
Saduddin quizzed for 5 hrs
Meanwhile, Saduddin Malik, one of the accused in the case who was sent to a four-day police custody, was questioned at Jubilee Hills police station for about five hours on Thursday. However, Saduddin’s replies were not to the satisfaction of the police. Police tried to extract some information from the accused, by producing the evidence gathered.
The mobile phones of the accused, their clothes and other material have also been seized. Police have decided to appeal before the JJB to try the CCLs as adults in view of the horrific nature of the case. This will be done after the investigation is completed and at the time of filing the chargesheet.
OUGHT TO BE TRIED AS ADULTS: KTR
IT Minister KT Rama Rao welcomed the move of Telangana police to seek the trial of the minors involved in the case as adults. Responding to media reports, he tweeted, “If you are adult enough to commit a crime as heinous as rape, one must also be punished as an adult and not as a juvenile.”