Fourth suspect in Delhi minor’s rape arrested

The arrest was made in connection with the gang rape of a 13-year-old girl in June by five people in two separate instances on the same night in outer Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar

Nearly one-and-a-half months after a 13-year-old girl was gang-raped by five people in two separate instances on the same night in outer Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar, the crime branch has arrested a 23-year-old suspect for his alleged involvement in the crime.

The suspect, identified by the police as 23-year-old Karan Singh alias Rahul, is the fourthsuspect arrested so far in the case. (FILE)

The suspect, identified by the police as 23-year-old Karan Singh alias Rahul, is the fourthsuspect arrested so far in the case.

Rahul was arrested from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday based on a tip-off after a court issued a non-bailable warrant against him. “Rahul was found to be involved in five previous crimes ranging from attempt to murder to offences under the Arms Act,” said Ravindra Singh Yadav, special commissioner (crime branch), on Saturday.

The girl lives with her parents in Swaroop Nagar and is a Class 8 student at a government school there.

According to the police, on June 23, the girl was allegedly going to meet a friend in Swaroop Nagar when two people known to her allegedly lured her to an abandoned building around 7pm, and raped her there.

The accused let her off about four hours later. While returning home after the assault she met her maternal uncle and told him about the crime. Her uncle asked, Rahul, and a juvenile, both known to him, to drop the girl home. However, the two took her to a house instead where the two and a third suspect, Kamal (full name) gang-raped her, said Yadav.

She returned home in the early hours of June 24, and told her mother about the two crimes, police said.

Her mother reported the matter to the police following which a case of gang rape, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint and offences under the Pocso Act was registered at Swaroop Nagar police station on June 24.

The police apprehended three suspects WHEN, but Rahul and Kamal were allegedly absconding. Now, Kamal (full name) is the only suspect in the case who is still on the run.

Meanwhile, when the girl was recorded her statement before a magistrate, she mentioned that she was sexually assaulted by four others about seven months earlier also, sometime late last year (either seven months earlier or late last year, confusing timing), police said.

The girl told the magistrate that two boys who studied with her lured her to a wooded area in Swaroop Nagar on the pretext of sharing notes. Two adults later joined the two boys, and the four gang-raped the girl.

However, she did not report the matter to anybody, before mentioning it during her testimony before the magistrate, police said.

After the identified all the four suspects by their names, the police registered a separate case of gang rape and under Pocso Act on June 30 at Swaroop Nagar police station. All the four suspects in the second case have been arrested, the police said.