The Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate court on Wednesday sent 28-year-old Mohammed Badshah Mohammed Ismail Ansari alias Mohammed Anwar to judicial custody till November 9, as demanded by the police to conduct an identification parade. The normal practice is to seek police custody for interrogation.

Ansari is accused of breaking into a Spanish singer’s rented flat in suburban Bandra, robbing, raping and sodomising her at knife-point.

“The victim wishes to return to her hometown. Identification parade is very essential and we need to do it before she leaves the country,” Assistant Public Prosecutor B B Yele told the court.

Yele told the court that after identification parade, the police would seek his custody as he has not been aiding the investigations and refused to confess the crime.

Clad in a black burkha, Ansari was produced in court amid tight security. When he was asked by Magistrate S S Deshpande if he was aware of the crime he was arrested for, Ansari repeatedly said he is innocent and was wrongly picked up by the police. “Maine kuch nahi kiya (I have not done anything),” he told the court.

When the court further enquired if he had a lawyer, Ansari replied in the negative and said he would want one to defend him. He constantly looked around the court to see if any of his family members were present for the hearing. “Koi nahi aaya hai ghar se (no one has come from home),” he said when the court asked if he could identify any of his relatives inside the courtroom.

Ansari, who is a history-sheeter and has over 20 cases against him, was released from jail a few days before the incident. He was last arrested for breaking into actor Dino Morea’s house.

The 27-year-old Spanish musician, who was staying on leave-and-licence basis in a flat on the third floor of the Bandra (West) apartment, was allegedly raped and robbed by a knife-wielding Ansari in the early hours of November 5.

Ansari allegedly barged into the flat through the window and robbed money, including Euros and Indian currency, and a video camera. When the victim woke up, the accused allegedly brandished a knife asking her to keep mum.

Case progress

Police sought two days’ judicial custody of Mohammed Badshah Mohammed Ismail Ansari to conduct an identification parade

The normal practice is to seek police custody for interrogation

Assistant Public Prosecutor B B Yele told the court that the victim wished to return to her country and an ID parade had to be conducted before she leaves