Post date: Jan 11, 2013 3:53:29 PM
Kiran Bedi, India's most celebrated former woman police officer and a host of a popular reality TV show says driver of the bus on which an Indian student was gang-raped and fatally beaten featured on her show three years ago.
NEW DELHI, INDIA (JANUARY 10, 2013) (REUTERS) - The driver of the bus on which an Indian student was gang-raped and fatally beaten featured three years ago on a television show that was hosted by a former top woman police officer.
Ram Singh, the main accused in last month's assault on the woman in New Delhi, had sought help on the show, "Aap Ki Kacheri" or "Your Court", to get compensation for injuries he sustained in a bus accident, show host Kiran Bedi said.Bedi, India's most celebrated former woman police officer and now an anti-corruption activist, was host of the Hindi-language programme that helped resolve civil disputes.
In that particular episode, which is available on YouTube, Singh and a bus owner who had refused his demands for compensation stood side by side at podiums as Bedi asked each man to make his case.
"The show listened to both parties and when looked at the documents we found out that Ram Singh was trying to use the show and that was no justice, hence we gave him nothing," Bedi told Reuters, recalling the episode.
A Delhi police officer confirmed that the man in the show was Singh, one of five men charged with the rape and murder of the 23-year-old student whose ordeal triggered nationwide protests.
Singh is expected to plead not guilty when the trial begins. Defence lawyers have said the prosecution's case is marred by lapses in the investigation.
The rape victim, who had boarded the bus along with a male friend after watching a movie on Dec. 16, died in a Singapore hospital two weeks later.
On the television show, Singh said he was tired of going to a tribunal court to seek compensation for injuries to both his hands.
Singh did not have any criminal record at the time he appeared on the show, the police officer said.
Bedi said the episode involving Singh was one of the few times when the two sides could not reach a settlement.