Chandigarh rape: ‘Auto driver shared his kid’s ailment to gain my confidence’

The 21-year-old Dehradun woman, who was allegedly gangraped by three men, including an auto driver, in November last year, has claimed that the latter tried to gain her confidence by having an emotional chat about his daughter with her.

During her examination-in-chief before a special court on Tuesday, the woman told the court that as she boarded the auto on November 17, 2017, the driver, Mohammad Irfan, started a conversation about his daughter, saying she had paralysis, that made her want to hear him out.

When cross-questioned by the defence counsel, she claimed this is how he tried to win her over and evoked sympathy, and she talked to him after hearing about his daughter’s condition.

Responding to another question during the cross-examination, the victim claimed that after the trio raped her, she overheard Irfan saying, “Chakoo nikalo, saali ko maar dalo (Take out the knife and kill the damn girl).”

While reiterating the points made in her complaint to the police, she elaborated how she was threatened, and that the trio filmed her while raping her. The matter will come up for hearing on May 12 when other witnesses will record statements.

Charges framed on April 23

A local court had framed charges against the three accused, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Garib and Popu alias Kismat Ali on April 23. They are charged with gangrape (Section 376D) and criminal intimidation (506 ) of the Indian Penal Code.

The trio was arrested on November 24 for allegedly gangraping the 21-year-old woman in the forest area of Sector 53 on November 17. She victim had boarded Irfan’s auto after attending an evening stenography class in Sector 37. Two male passengers were already sitting in the vehicle.

The victim had alleged that instead of driving towards Mohali, where she lived as a paying guest, the auto-rickshaw driver moved towards Sector 42, claiming that he had to refuel his vehicle. After refuelling the auto, the accused drove to an isolated forest area in Sector 53, where the trio took turns to rape her, before fleeing.

An hour later, the two men on a motorcycle spotted her crying on the roadside around 9pm. She narrated the crime to them, following which they sounded the police.

Irfan, 29, was the first to be arrested on November 24, while the other two were arrested the next day from Uttar Pradesh after Irfan’s disclosure.

Father of two daughters among four children, Irfan, is also accused of raping a 21-year-old call centre employee in December 2016. The victim had identified him during the identification parade, and forensic examination of semen had established his involvement.

In similar modus operandi as the gangrape of the Dehradun woman, the accused drove his auto, with another male passenger, towards the forest area in Sector 29 on December 12. There, the two men gangraped the woman at knifepoint.

Irfan, Mohammad Garib and Popu were also questioned in connection with the death of a woman, Rajni, who had allegedly jumped from a moving auto near Hallomajra traffic lights in March 2016.