Almost three months after a 20-year-old woman was allegedly kidnapped, gang-raped, beaten up, and then paraded in Delhi’s Shahdara district, the Delhi Police submitted a chargesheet in the matter.
In the 762 pages-long chargesheet, the police has alleged that the “crime was committed with the intention of killing the victim and taking revenge for the death of a minor (related to the accused).”
The incident took place on Republic Day, 26 January, when the 20-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped and tortured. A purported video of her being paraded, with a garland of shoes around her neck, her head tonsured, and face blackened was shared on social media by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal.
DCP (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said, "At least 26 videos of the incident have been recovered. Of this, at least 14 videos have been found in the phone of the accused.”
He said that there are 21 accused people, including 12 women, four men, two girls and three boys. There are 48 witnesses as per the Delhi Police.
The Delhi Police has filed FIR under IPC sections of attempt to murder, gang-rape, dacoity, kidnapping, assault, voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation, insulting modesty of women, rioting, and criminal conspiracy, among others.
On 28 January – two days after the incident – DCP (Shahdara) told The Quint that “one of the accused, a woman, has alleged that the survivor is responsible for the death of her 16-year-old son. The boy had died by suicide last year, as per the accused.”
Survivor's Family Harassed For Months Before Incident
On 28 January, the survivor’s sister told The Quint that the two sisters were being “harassed” repeatedly over months, allegedly by the family of the minor who had died by suicide in their locality in November 2021.
In fact, the survivor and her sister even stayed at their maternal grandmother’s house in Haryana for a few weeks in a bid to “escape the harassment and the threats”.
That day, the survivor’s sister had told The Quint that she had submitted a written complaint to the police on 20 January – six days before her sister was allegedly gang-raped, beaten up and paraded.
In the complaint to the police, the survivor’s sister had written, “…Naa hi yeh kaam karne dete hai, naa hi yeh kamaane dete hai. Main apna ghar kaise chalaungi? Mujhe inn logo se khatra hai… Dhamki dete hai, izzat ki, jaan ki. Main majboor hu sir, mujhe tumhaari sahayta chahiye. (These people don't let me work or earn any money. How am I supposed to run my house? They are a danger to me... They threaten to kill me; outrage my modesty... I am helpless, sir, I need your help.)”
An FIR based on the complaint received on 20 January – six days before the incident – was only lodged on 29 January.
On Monday, 25 April, DCP (Shahdara) said that an FIR has also been filed against the auto driver in which the woman was kidnapped from outside her residence in Shahdara district.
DCP said, “Police collected scientific evidence with the assistance of cyber team and FSL. Apart from this, psychological state assessment of the accused persons was also carried out. Voice sample of the accused persons is also being taken.”
(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.)