Kurla rape accused identified in court

A middle-aged witness in the Nehru Nagar rape case did not take long to identify Javed Sheikh at a sessions court on Thursday while she recorded her statement. Employed as a kindergarten assistant and domestic help, the woman recollected the entire course of events she witnessed on June 19, 2010. She also identified the picture of the 9-year-old victim from Nehru Nagar, Kurla as well as the clothes worn by both Sheikh and
the victim at the time of incident.

The victim was allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered by 19-year-old Javed Sheikh. The witness will be cross examined on Monday.

The witness told the court that on June 19, 2010 at 7pm she saw Sheikh taking the victim to the scene of crime in Kurla. Just a few days later the body of the victim was found on the abandoned mezzanine floor of a chawl followed by police investigations.

“The witness recognised the picture of the accused and the victim and informed the police that she saw him taking the victim to the scene of the crime,” said public prosecutor Pradip Gharat. The witness was then taken to Thane for an identification parade where she recognised Javed Sheikh. After that she was taken to the Nehru Nagar police station and she identified the clothes of the victim and the accused.

Arrested on July 1, 2010, a 325-page chargesheet was filed against Shaikh by the Nehru Nagar police.