Child rape case: Main accused sent to judicial custody

The main accused in the gangrape of a five-year-old girl in east Delhi, Manoj Sah, has been sent to judicial custody till May 9 by a city court after being grilled by the police for five days.

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg remanded Manoj, 22, in judicial custody after the Delhi police said he was not required for further interrogation.

Co-accused Pradeep, 19, is also in judicial custody till May 9.

The police had earlier obtained five-day custody of Manoj to know the chain of events and for taking him to his native place in Muzzafarpur, Bihar to recover "blood-stained clothes" which he was wearing at the time of the commission of crime.

Earlier, the police had told the court that they have recovered the mobile phones of both the accused.

The police had also taken Manoj's handwriting sample to match it with the writing on a piece of paper recovered from Pradeep. The piece of paper was given to Pradeep by Manoj with instructions to call him in two days when they left Delhi and parted ways at Chhapra.

Both Manoj and Pradeep are accused of raping the minor girl on April 15 in the same building in east Delhi where the girl and the accused lived.

The girl was rescued 40 hours later on April 17 and is now recuperating at AIIMS.

After sexually assaulting the girl, Manoj attempted to strangle her. Suspecting that the victim was dead, both the accused fled from the spot and boarded a train to reach Chhapra. They then parted ways.

While Manoj headed to his in-laws' house, Pradeep went to his maternal uncle's residence in Lakhisarai. Manoj was arrested on April 20 from Muzaffarpur in Bihar. After initial interrogation, he revealed that Pradeep was also involved in the crime.

Following the revelation, Pradeep was apprehended from Barahiya village in Bihar's Lakhisarai district late on April 22 from his maternal uncle's residence.

Both the accused have been booked under the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Manoj had told his interrogators that on April 15, his friend Pradeep had come to his house and they had consumed alcohol. 

Manoj claimed that Pradeep insisted on bringing a girl to the house and he went out and lured the girl with a chocolate.

While he claimed that Pradeep alone had sexually assaulted the girl, the police has said that both of them had raped the minor.