Delhi girl alleges she was gang-raped three times, two assaults on same night

A 13-year-old girl in Delhi was raped by five people twice in one night. Seven suspects, including three minors, have been arrested so far.

New Delhi

TOPSHOT - A Delhi police barrier blocks a street during a Delhi state-wide weekend curfew imposed by the authorities to curb the spreading of the Covid-19 coronavirus in New Delhi on January 8, 2022. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP) (AFP)

A 13-year-old girl was raped by five people twice in one night in outer north Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar last month, Delhi Police said on Monday.

The minor, in her statement on June 29, also said that she was raped by four other people about seven months ago, said Ravi Kumar Singh, deputy commissioner of police (outer-north).

So far seven suspects, including three minors, have been held and a hunt is on for the remaining two suspects, the officer said. “She identified all the nine suspects by their names,” said the DCP.

The girl lives with her parents in Swaroop Nagar and is a class eight student at a government school in the area.

On June 23 night, she was allegedly going to meet a friend in Swaroop Nagar when three people known to her lured her to an abandoned building at around 7pm, where they took turns to rape her, the DCP said.

They let her off about four hours later. On her way back home, two other persons known to her intercepted her and allegedly gangraped her at one of their homes, the officer said.

She returned home in the early hours of June 24 after which she informed her mother about the sexual assaults. Her mother reported the matter to the police upon which a case of gang rape, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint and under the Pocso Act was registered at Swaroop Nagar police station on June 24.

“We arrested two adults and apprehended a minor suspect. Two other suspects (ages yet to be verified) are being searched for,” the DCP said.

In the subsequent days, while her statement was being recorded in front of a magistrate, she alleged that she was sexually assaulted by two of her classmates in a forested area in the neighbourhood on the pretext of sharing notes with her. Two men were also accompanying them, who allegedly took turns to rape her, according to her statement.

The assault was not reported at the time, police said.

The minor identified the four suspects, after which a separate case of gang rape and under Pocso Act was lodged on June 30 at Swaroop Nagar police station, the DCP said. All the four suspects in that case have been held, the officer said.

The girl’s health condition is said to be stable and she is under counselling, police said.