We're onlookers, did no wrong: Molestation accused

JUST ONLOOKERS: They claimed they were just curious onlookers and became victims because of being photographed.

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Mumbai:All 14 men accused in the New Year eve molestation case of Mumbai have got bail. However, they rubbished the charge at a press conference on Wednesday.

Addressing the media on their release from the Arthur Road Jail, the accused claimed they have been framed in the case.

They even pieced together some evidence in their defense. They claimed they were just curious onlookers and became victims because of being photographed in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“We could not see anything, since the place was crowded,” says Nilesh, one of the accused.

However, some of the accused men now say they have watertight alibis. “I was in Vashi that night and my evidence is that I have swiped my credit card at a nearby restaurant,” says Amit Kapoor, another accused in the case.

Others say they are trying to put what's happened behind them, and plead that their reputations be considered. “Many of us are at work or studying. Our future will be affected,” says another accused, Derek Jadhav.

However, among all the controversy and evidence, it is the media that has to bear the brunt. Derek adds that it is the media that has to be blamed. “Photographers are securing their future, not ours,” he adds.