A 20-year-old woman was abducted and allegedly gang-raped by her neighbours and paraded through the streets of Delhi’s Shahdara district on Wednesday, with the accused chopping her hair and forcing her to wear a garland of slippers around her neck.
Seven women and two boys from the accused family have been arrested, according to police. Two more suspects are on the run.
According to police, the motive appears to be personal animosity. “We’ve been told that one of the accused’s family members, around 15 or 16 years old, stalked the woman and even proposed to her, which she turned down”
He allegedly left home on November 12 last year and committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. The woman was held responsible by the family and they wanted to revenge, said the officer. The woman complained that she was at home with her two-year-old child on Wednesday when some of the accused barged into their home, abducted her, and took her to their house in Shahdara, according to her police statement.
The woman was tortured in full view of the public for nearly an hour, barely 50 metres from the local police booth in east Delhi’s Kasturba Nagar, which was unmanned at the time.
A group of women can be seen thrashing the victim while parading her in one of the videos of the incident. Locals and neighbours can be seen clapping, but no one steps forward to intervene. As word of the videos spread, Arvind Kejriwal, East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir, and Swati Maliwal, the head of the Delhi Commission for Women, pledged their support to the victim’s family
She claimed that a group of men kidnapped her and raped her inside the house, while the women “instigated” the men and later thrashed her with sticks. They also blackened her face and wore a garland of slippers around her neck as she was paraded. The woman’s sister stated that she was followed by members of the accused family on the day of the incident.
The woman’s husband, on the other hand, had already informed the police about her kidnapping after their landlord called him frantically to tell him about it.
“I went out around 11 a.m. to meet my sister, who lives a few kilometres away.” I was aware that I was being followed, but I chose to ignore it. When I arrived at her house, a group of men barged in and threatened to murder my sister and her child. They grabbed my phone and took my sister as I rushed to save the child. For a while, I was locked in my room. She claimed, ” Then I called police.”
Around 1 p.m., police received a PCR call, according to police. “Our team rushed to the spot and found that a group of people were parading a woman through the streets and beating her up,” DCP (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said. The woman was rescued and taken to the police station, where her statement was recorded.” Eleven people have been charged with illegal confinement, abduction, gang rape, and physical and sexual assault, according to police.
“How did the criminals get so much courage?” Kejriwal said in a tweet, condemning the woman’s attack. I am requesting that the Union Home Minister and the Lieutenant Governor direct police to take strict action and pay close attention to the law and order situation. Such behaviour will not be tolerated by Delhiites.
The survivor is being held in a “safe house” with trained counsellors who are assisting her in overcoming the shock and trauma of the crime, according to police. On Thursday afternoon, she gave a statement to a magistrate. According to police, the majority of the arrested and fleeing suspects are involved in the illegal sale of liquor and have previously been charged under the Excise Act.
Swati Maliwal of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) said the panel had issued a notice to the police. Rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist, said that in his 25 years of working with police and other organisations, he has never heard of such a horrific incident.
“I’ve heard it happening in small towns and remote villages.” However, it is the first time it has occurred in a city like Delhi. What’s even more striking and shocking is that no one (in the neighbourhood) objected.” Dr Mitra added. This type of humiliation and shaming is referred to as a signature crime. When a man sexually assaults a woman in order to humiliate her in front of others. The impression of being in a safe city is slowly giving way to a kangaroo court.