After nabbing all five accused in the gang rape of a 23 year-old photojournalist in the city, Mumbai Police on Monday said that 'maximum' punishment would be sought for the perpetrators of Thursday's incident.
"We have already started the process to ensure that the case is tried at a fast track court. We will apply our full strength to ensure that the accused get the maximum punishment for the crime," Commissioner of Police Satyapal Singh said.
Divulging details of the investigations into the case so far, Satyapal Singh said that out of the five accused, three of them have had a criminal records against them in the past.
Contrary to Chand Babu Sattat Shaikh's grandmother's claim that the accused is a minor, Singh clarified that none of the suspects were below 18 years of age.
Singh, further added, that the chargesheet in the case would be filed at the earliest.
Earlier, media reports had said that the assaulters clicked a photograph of the victim, using a mobile phone and threatened her that they would tarnish her image by uploading the picture on Internet, if she would have revealed about the crime to anyone.
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Speaking over this aspect of the gang rape, Singh confirmed that the photograph was clicked by the accused, and added that the Police has recovered the mobile phone without the picture.
"All the scientific evidences have been collected. Mobile phone has also been seized. But as you (the reporters) are mentioning about the photo, as per our interrogation so far, we got the information that only one photo was clicked, but photo is no more available. But we will retrieve it back through forensic," he said.
The incident took place on August 22 in Lower Parel area where the 23-year-old woman had gone for an assignment.
She was working with an English Magazine as an intern. According to police, the men tied up the friend who was accompanying her and raped the woman.
The victim, who was admitted to Jaslok Hospital, had sustained multiple internal injuries. She is stated to be in a stable condition now.
The Centre has sought a detailed report on the gang rape incident.