German tourist rape case: Tough call for police to identify suspects

Chennai: The Kancheepuram Police, who are probing the rape of a German tourist which took place on April 2 near Mahabalipuram, are facing the challenging task of confirming whether the suspects they had picked up were party to the crime. Sources said that the police have narrowed it down to two prime suspects, but the duo could not be paraded before the victim since she was not available since Saturday as she has been travelling.

"We have not sent the pictures of the suspects to anyone as claimed in a section of the media. Whether we can send their pictures has to be deliberated as the investigation is underway. We have other means to confirm the role of the suspects and we are taking those routes. We would not be able to divulge those details which would impede the progress of the investigation and may spell trouble when the case comes to trial. The woman is also travelling in North India.

She was in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and she would be travelling to Rajasthan this week, according to the itinerary she had provided us" said a senior police officer who is privy to the investigation. Elaborating, he said, "We are trying to reach her by other means since we could not reach her through her mobilephone. We hope to get in touch with her this week and with her cooperation we would be able to nail the suspects". He went on to reveal, "It is as challenging as the rape and murder of TCS techie Uma Maheshwari which took place in the bushes near her office in Siruseri on the night of Feb 13, 2014".

"We have no CCTV footage to establish the identity of the suspects and no witnesses. We are leaving no stone turned. We are at present analysing the mobile traffic and the tower-dump data with which we had narrowed the list of suspects," another senior police official pointed out.

When contacted, Kancheepuram SP Santosh Hadimani told Deccan Chronicle that they had detained two suspects and were investigating them. “We are making headway, and should be able to crack the case by this week”, he added.

The German tourist is part of a 12-member-party of 3 families touring the country. The victim and two of her friends had lain down for a sun tan at around 8 am while the raping incident took place at around 10am on April 2.