3-star tattoo, sustained CCTV scanning help police solve Delhi gangrape-murder case

The crime happened in the early hours of September 11, the body was discovered after two days, and they were informed about it at around 7:30 am on September 13

A heavily mutilated body, with visible skeletal parts and missing limbs, thwarted police probe in the gang-rape and brutal stabbing of a 16-year-old girl in Swaroop Nagar’s Khadda Colony, officers aware of the matter said on Friday, adding that a tattoo—of three stars on the left arm—helped them crack the case and apprehend the accused.

The Delhi police team that visited the spot found the body of a person wearing a pair of blue jeans, with pieces of a purple cloth on top. (HT Photo/File)

An investigator, who did not wish to be named, said that while the crime happened in the early hours of September 11, the body was discovered after two days and they were informed about it at around 7.30am on September 13, when senior officers were deployed on Brics duty.

The team that visited the spot found the body of a person wearing a pair of blue jeans, with pieces of a purple cloth on top. “The skull and ribcage were visible and the right arm was cut off. We couldn’t figure out whether it was a man or a woman; it appeared more to be of a middle-aged man,” the officer said.

Given that there were six stab wounds on the body, the investigators, during the initial probe, assumed the genitals had been chopped. The body was then shifted to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital and the search to identify the victim began.

“There was a lot of mud on the body when it was found. One of the officers on the team visited the mortuary and decided to take a closer look at it. That’s when an assistant sub-inspector found a tattoo with three stars in a row on the left arm. That was the first turning point in the case as it made us consider the possibility that the body could be of a woman too,” the officer said.

However, there was no missing person’s complaint, which further complicated the search for identity. Police said that teams scanned CCTV footage for two days to get a lead.

In footage recorded at around 3.30am on September 11, the police spotted a vehicle reaching the spot, switching off the headlights for around 15 minutes, the officer said.

“Then, it turns back and comes in the direction where the CCTV camera was installed. It showed two men, the driver and passenger. The passenger then goes out, walks towards the spot and three men return. The build was clear enough and we ascertained that four people could be involved in the case,” the officer said.

Police said that another clue was the design on the left side of the tempo, which they spotted around 9pm on September 15. “With the footage, it was clear that this vehicle was a delivery tempo and there were four people in it, but because of the way it was parked and crossed, we could not ascertain the registration number. But there was a peculiar design on the left side,” the officer said.

Police said that they started combing for the vehicle and around 1.30am on September 16, they found a tempo with the same design on the left side.

“We knocked on the door right opposite, after asking a few neighbours. The man who came out identified himself as the owner and said that his younger brother also drove it sometimes. The brother, who was sleeping inside, was called. The build of the driver in the footage and this boy’s matched perfectly,” the officer said.

During sustained interrogation, he allegedly confessed and shared the names of his associates, who were all taken into custody by the morning of September 16.

The accused allegedly told investigators that the 17-year-old driver of the tempo and the main accused in the case knew the girl. “After they forced themselves on the girl, she said that she’d report them to the police. They decided to kill her and dump her body, believing that no one would look for her,” the officer said.

Police then reached out to her family, who reside in Tri Nagar. The girl lived near Swaroop Nagar, and her father visited her sometimes. “They didn’t report her missing because they believed that she would have gone out for a few days with her friends, as she had done in the past too,” the officer said.

The officer said that they are mulling on getting an ossification test done on the remains to ascertain her age, because the parents did not share any identification documents. “We asked if they had any photographs of the girl. The brother-in-law showed some photos on his phone. After scanning a few, there was one with her tattoo: three stars in a row.”