December 16 gangrape convict shifted to another jail: Tihar officials
New Delhi: Tihar Jail authorities on Tuesday told a Delhi court that one of the four death row convicts in the December 16 gangrape and murder case, who had claimed he was being regularly assaulted by the inmates, has been shifted to another prison where CCTV cameras are installed for surveillance.
The superintendent of Tihar Central jail number five informed the court in a single-page report on the plea by convict Vinay Sharma seeking transfer from the jail where he was lodged.
Sharma, who is also facing trial along with three others in a separate robbery case, had sought transfer to ward number two of jail number five apprehending threat and had alleged that he was assaulted regularly by the prison inmates.
"The same matter has already been decided by competent authority and Vinay Sharma has been shifted from Central Jail number five to Central Jail number three on August 21 and Akshay is presently lodged in Central Jail number two with the direction to (conduct) proper surveillance and to keep in separate cell where CCTV cameras are installed," the report filed before Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh said.
"It is pertinent to mention here that convicts Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh alongwith other co-accused were previously transferred from Central Jail number five to Central Jail number two on May 13, 2015 by the direction issued from the PHQ for their safety and security due to lack of separate cells in Central Jail number five," it said.
The court is hearing final arguments in the robbery case in which the four convicts of December 16 gangrape and murder Case, Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh are facing trial.
They were awarded death penalty by trial court in the gangrape and murder case which was later confirmed by Delhi High Court. Their appeals are pending before the Supreme Court.
In the robbery case, Delhi police has alleged that before gangraping the 23-year-old girl in the moving bus here on the night of December 16, 2012, the accused had lured a carpenter, Ram Adhar, into the vehicle and robbed him. The gangrape victim had died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012.
On August 20, Vinay, through his counsel A P Singh, had moved an application in the court alleging he was assaulted by the inmates in Tihar Jail on August 15 and 16 respectively. The accused had earlier claimed that they had not robbed or assaulted the complainant. Ram Adhar had identified in the court the four accused as those who had robbed and assaulted him on December 16, 2012 night.
The court had put them on trial in the robbery case for the offences under various sections of IPC, including sections 395 (dacoity) and 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person).
