Delhi Teen Allegedly Gang-Raped and Killed; Four Arrested, Including Three Juveniles
New Delhi: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and killed in Delhi, with police saying four people, including three minors, have been apprehended in connection with the case. The teenager’s body was later found in a badly decomposed condition in an open field in northwest Delhi, days after the alleged crime.
According to police, the incident came to light on September 13 when the girl’s decomposed body was discovered near Jaipal Rana’s field in the Swaroop Nagar area along Kushak Road. By the time the body was recovered, it had deteriorated so severely that police said they could not immediately determine the victim’s gender.
Police also said that parts of the body had been eaten by stray dogs and that one of her hands was found separated from the rest of the body.
Victim and accused were reportedly known to each other
Investigators said the teenager was known to the people allegedly involved in the crime. Police suspect that she was travelling with them in a tempo when the incident occurred.
According to the police account, the group had been drinking inside the tempo before the girl was allegedly sexually assaulted. She was then allegedly stabbed to death, after which her body was taken to an open area and abandoned.
The girl had not been reported missing by her family. Police said her relatives told investigators that she would sometimes leave home and return after several days. This meant that her disappearance did not immediately trigger a missing-person complaint.
CCTV footage helped police trace the suspects
With no apparent eyewitnesses at the scene and the identities of the alleged perpetrators initially unknown, investigators began examining CCTV footage from the surrounding area.
Police teams analysed footage from more than 50 cameras covering the crime scene, nearby roads and adjoining routes. During the investigation, officers noticed a tempo moving through the area around the suspected time of the incident.
However, the vehicle’s registration number could not be clearly seen because of the darkness. Investigators therefore tracked the tempo’s movement across several CCTV cameras to identify its route and eventually locate the vehicle.
Four people apprehended
Police conducted a night-long search operation during the intervening night of September 15 and 16. The suspected tempo was eventually traced, and its driver was identified and questioned.
The investigation subsequently led to the apprehension of four people allegedly linked to the crime. Police identified the adult accused as Shivam alias Sudama alias Chuchu, a resident of Khadda Colony.
The other three suspects are juveniles, aged 16 and 17, according to police.
Weapons and other evidence recovered
During the investigation, police said they recovered two knives allegedly used in the crime, along with clothes that were allegedly worn by the accused. The tempo suspected to have been used in connection with the incident was also recovered.
A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Police said the investigation is still underway. Investigators are working to establish the exact sequence of events, determine the individual roles of all those apprehended and verify the forensic and technical evidence collected during the probe.
The case has drawn attention to the circumstances surrounding the teenager’s disappearance and the delayed discovery of her body. Police are continuing their investigation to establish the full circumstances of the alleged assault and murder.
News source: Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
