Gangrape: Male friend identifies accused in Tihar jail

One of the four accused in the brutal rape of a young paramedical student was on Thursday identified by the victim's friend during a Test Identification Parade at Tihar jail in Delhi.

The 23-year-old victim's male friend, an engineer in a software company, identified Mukesh during the TIP, a senior police official said.

Eleven people were paraded before the victim's friend during the TIP which started at 3.05 pm and ended in a hour.

"The procedures ended by 4 pm," the official said.

Out of the four accused, only Mukesh had agreed to the TIP when he was produced before a court on Wednesday. Other accused -- Ram Singh, Pawan and Vinay -- had refused to undergo the TIP.

According to the official, the positive identification of Mukesh by the friend, who was also beaten up by the gang before the men allegedly raped the girl, is a shot in the arm of the prosecution as it would it then nail the other culprits.

Police have invoked the stringent charges of attempt to murder and destruction of evidence against the accused.

Investigators had earlier pressed charges against them under sections 365 (kidnapping or abducting), 376 (2)(g) (gang rape), 377 (unnatural offences), 394 (hurting in committing robbery) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The police have so far arrested four people in connection with the incident in a moving bus in Delhi on Sunday night.

Investigators have also detained one person from Bihar in connection with the case though there was no official confirmation regarding that.

Police have sent teams to Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to trace the absconding accused.