Two days after an 87-year-old bedridden woman was sexually assaulted at her house in west Delhi, the Delhi Police on Tuesday, 15 February, arrested a 30-year-old man, who works as a sweeper nearby.
Ankit Jhandal Mogli, a resident of Harijan Colony, has been arrested after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted, and 20 police teams were deployed in the case. Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal told The Quint, "The woman's mobile phone has been recovered from the accused."
At the time of the incident, the survivor was alone at home, and the matter came to the fore when her 65-year-old daughter returned home and found her mother bleeding from the mouth.
What Had Happened
A close family friend of the survivor told The Quint that the daughter returned home after a walk on Sunday afternoon and found her octogenarian mother disturbed.
They said, "Naani was shivering, there were injury marks on her face, and she was very disturbed. She managed to tell her daughter that a man had entered the house. She described him as a person in his 30s, and said that he assaulted her. She pleaded with him to take money or things lying in the house but he didn't listen to her. He didn't spare her."
A case of theft was filed on 13 February at the Tilak Nagar police station, and a day later, the IPC section for sexual assault (376) was added in the FIR.
Further, as per the FIR, the man had entered the house on the pretext of checking the gas connection. When the survivor asked him to speak to her daughter on the phone, he snatched her mobile phone.
“We are two senior citizens who live alone in the house. Please investigate this incident," the FIR quotes her daughter as saying.
The survivor had suffered a fall seven months ago and has been bedridden since, said the family friend.
What The Police Has Said
Delhi Police spokesperson Biswal said that 20 teams were formed to nab the accused and the arrest was made on the basis of groundwork and interrogation. The survivor's medical examination was also conducted.
"There was no CCTV camera outside the survivor's house, and this was a completely blind case, as the accused is not known to the survivor or her family. Police teams scanned through CCTV footage from cameras nearby, and based on the description of the accused by the elderly woman, a few people were apprehended," said Biswal.
"The team managed to zero down on the suspect Ankit Jhandal Mogli. During sustained interrogation, the accused accepted the commission of present crime. The cursory search of the house resulted in the recovery of stolen mobile phone and clothes of accused worn at the time of the incident," the police said.
Tweeting about the incident Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal had written on Monday:
"Delhi Police has called us and told that an 87-year-old woman has been raped in Tilak Nagar. Our team reached there immediately...I have also issued notice to Delhi Police in the matter. In such a heinous case, an FIR must be lodged immediately."
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)