1.5 years later, FIR lodged over brutal rape of help in SE Delhi

The police said the survivor approached them only once and did not turn up for further inquiry. The court also pulled up the police for inaction and asked them to look into the matter at the earliest

Nearly a year-and-a-half after a 25-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by the son of her employers and three or four of his friends, the Delhi Police lodged a first information report (FIR) at a police station in southeast Delhi in connection with the case on April 15 after directions from a Delhi court, police officers aware of the matter said on Friday.

According to the FIR, a copy of which HT has seen, the incident happened on the night of December 29, 2022, when the survivor worked as a help at a house in the Govindpuri area in southeast Delhi. (Representational Image)

According to the FIR, based on the survivor’s submissions to the court, the woman alleged that a part of her tongue was chopped off during the incident. She has also alleged police inaction in the matter — that she and her family approached officers including a deputy commissioner of police, a station house officer and other senior officers but her complaints were “turned down”.

However, police said the survivor approached them only once and did not turn up for further inquiry.

“The woman approached us in July 2023 and did not appear for further counselling or questioning. We were waiting for evidence and statements in the case. In compliance with the order by the Saket court, a first information report has been registered. We will be recording the statements of the woman and the accused. Accordingly, legal action will be taken,” said a senior officer aware of the case, requesting anonymity.

The court also pulled up the police for inaction and asked them to look into the matter at the earliest.

On April 15, a case under sections 376D (gang rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Govindpuri police station. No arrests have been made in the case yet, police added. However, the FIR mentioned the names of the couple and their son as the “accused”.

HT reached out to DCP(southeast) Rajesh Deo, who did not respond to queries seeking comments on the case and the alleged delay in lodging an FIR.

According to the FIR, a copy of which HT has seen, the incident happened on the night of December 29, 2022, when the survivor worked as a help at a house in the Govindpuri area in southeast Delhi. Her employers — a married couple in their 40s— ran a spa near the house.

On December 29, the couple called the woman to cook food for the seven to eight guests who were arriving for their son’s birthday party. At the time of the party, the couple’s son, presently in his 20s, began “staring” at her and “touched her inappropriately”, the FIR said.

Soon after, the woman was served a drink spiked with sedatives. “I woke up the next day and found myself in a private hospital in Gurugram. I had multiple injuries on my forehead, eyes, nose and face. My tongue had been chopped off and I had difficulty speaking. There was swelling and pain in my genitalia… There was blood everywhere. I found that my employers had admitted me using a false name ‘Naina’,” the FIR said, quoting the woman.

The survivor alleged that she was admitted to the private hospital by the couple. On December 30, 2022, she tried to escape from the hospital but was “threatened by the couple of dire consequences”. Police said the woman was admitted for weeks at the AIIMS.

“Later, I managed to escape wearing the hospital gown. I begged an unknown person to help me and called my parents. They then took me to a clinic and I was further shifted to the AIIMS trauma centre. My employers spiked my drink… their son and his friends gang-raped me. They tried to silence me by chopping my tongue and also threatened to kill me,” the woman alleged in the FIR. The survivor and her family alleged they approached police a few days after the incident but their complaints were turned down.

Last week, a Delhi court heard her plea and ordered the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR and take action at the earliest. The plea was filed in March.

HT spoke to one of the cousins of the survivor who said that the woman has moved out of Delhi.

“She has been traumatised after the incident and stopped working. We approached the SHO, DCP and other senior officers multiple times but they never took our complaint. We had no other option but to approach the court. We just want the men to be arrested. My sister had suffered a lot,” the cousin said.