Charges framed against accused in German tourist rape case

Chandigarh A district court on Monday framed charges of gangrape against the five youths accused of raping a German tourist on September 28. The accused — Manvir Singh Jolly, Pankaj Punia, Harpreet Singh Dalli, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi and Sompal — were also charged with kidnapping and criminal intimidation. Pankaj was booked under Section 473 of the IPC for forging the registration number of car as well.

Today, the police also moved an application in court to enlist the services of a translator in the case. “Though the victim can speak and understand English to a great extent, it is better to have a translator to ensure clarity in communication,” said an officer. The police plan to approach the Department of Foreign Languages in Panjab University to provide a translator.

The next date of hearing is January 16 and the victim is expected to be present in the court. In her complaint, the woman had stated that she was molested but in November, the police and CFSL reports confirmed that she was raped. Vaginal swabs taken from the victim matched the DNA of 24-year-old Pankaj, the main accused.

The victim had told the police that she had come out of the Taj hotel for a smoke when one of the accused started talking to her. Thereafter, they forced her to drive their vehicle out of the city to a farmhouse, where the youth tried to rape her. The next day, one of the accused dropped her at a friend’s house in Sector 19.