Delhi Police have apprehended four people, including the 17-year-old friend of a 16-year-old girl, in connection with her alleged gangrape and murder in Outer North Delhi. The girl’s decomposed body was found in an open field on the intervening night of September 12 and 13, police said.
According to the police account reported by The Indian Express, the incident allegedly took place on the night of September 10, when the girl went to meet her 17-year-old friend. Police said the friend allegedly called three others, after which the group spent time together before the girl was allegedly sexually assaulted.
The girl was allegedly stabbed after she threatened to file a police complaint, an officer said. Her body was then allegedly dumped near bushes in the field. Police initially could not identify the deceased when they reached the spot after receiving information about a body lying in the open, DCP (Outer North) Lokeshwaran R said.
The four people apprehended on Wednesday are two 17-year-olds, one 16-year-old and one 19-year-old, police said. One of them has denied involvement, and investigators are awaiting medical and forensic reports to examine that claim. Police said there were no eyewitnesses and that the identities of those responsible were initially unknown.
The investigation progressed after officers examined footage from more than 50 CCTV cameras and identified a tempo moving near the crime scene. Police contacted the vehicle’s owner, who allegedly said that one of his friends had taken the tempo on the night of the incident.
A night-long search operation was conducted during the intervening night of September 15 and 16, after which the suspected tempo was traced and its driver identified and questioned, the DCP said. The investigation then led to the apprehension of four people allegedly connected with the offence. Police said two knives were recovered from the accused.
An FIR has been registered under Sections 103(1), 238(A), 65(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The provisions cited by police relate to murder, causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen an offender, rape of a woman below 16 years of age, acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention, and aggravated penetrative sexual assault of a child.
Police said the recovered exhibits have been preserved for forensic examination. The ongoing investigation will establish the sequence of events, determine the individual role of each apprehended person and examine whether anyone else was involved, the DCP said.
