Delhi Police chargesheet details gait analysis in 16-year-old's gang-rape and murder case in Swaroop Nagar

Investigators used CCTV footage and gait analysis to identify four accused. DNA analysis is pending, and the chargesheet includes statements from 54 witnesses.

The Delhi Police has submitted a 365 page chargesheet, which includes mention of a gait analysis, in the gang-rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, whose highly decomposed body was found in outer Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar last month, officers aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

One senior police officer said that the chargesheet includes the mention of a gait analysis — a study and evaluation of human walking or running mechanics using video recording (Sanjeev Verma/ Hindustan Times)

The incident took place on September 11 and four teenagers – three of them minors — were held in the case. Her body was found on September 13. According to the chargesheet, the accused allegedly raped the girl and stabbed her multiple times before dumping her body in a field in Khadda Colony. They allegedly decided to kill her after she threatened to report the sexual assault to the police.

One senior police officer said that the chargesheet includes the mention of a gait analysis — a study and evaluation of human walking or running mechanics using video recording — that they have conducted of the accused. “The exhibits have been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory and the report will be attached in the supplementary chargesheet,” the officer said.

Gait analysis is rare and was undertaken in this case to help identify the perpetrators who were captured in CCTV footage, according to the officer.

The chargesheet also includes statements of 54 witnesses. It details how investigators at Swaroop Nagar police station, who initially suspected that the body found on September 13 was that of a middle-aged man, eventually identified the victim and traced the alleged perpetrators by scanning CCTV footage, spotting a distinctive design on a delivery tempo and tracking down the vehicle in the early hours of September 16.

Police said that they have also sent another report to FSL in Chandigarh for matching of the accused DNA with the semen lifted from the girl’s body. “The postmortem report which confirms forceful penetration and stabbing has been attached,” the officer said.

According to the sequence of events detailed in the chargesheet, staff at Swaroop Nagar police station received a call around 7.30am on September 13 about a body lying in the fields in Khadda Colony. With senior officers deployed for BRICS-related duty, a police team reached the spot and found a body wearing blue jeans, with pieces of purple cloth on top.

The body was severely mutilated, with the skull and rib cage exposed and the right arm severed. Investigators initially could not establish whether the deceased was a man or a woman. The crime team also suspected that the genitals had been mutilated. At least six stab wounds were visible around the stomach, according to the chargesheet.

The body was subsequently taken to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital.

A closer examination of the remains at the mortuary provided the first breakthrough. An assistant sub-inspector noticed a tattoo of three stars in a row on the left arm, prompting investigators to consider the possibility that the deceased was a woman.

While one team checked the central database for missing-person reports, another began collecting CCTV footage from the surrounding area. Investigators worked backwards from the morning of September 13 until they reached footage from around 3.30am on September 11.

The CCTV footage showed a vehicle approaching the spot with its headlights on before switching them off for around 15 minutes. The vehicle then turned around and moved towards the CCTV camera. Two men, including the driver and a passenger, were visible in the vehicle. The passenger got out and walked towards the spot, after which three men were seen returning, the chargesheet states.

Investigators narrowed their focus to four suspects based on the footage, which provided a sufficiently clear view of their builds.

The next breakthrough came around 9pm on September 15, when investigators noticed a distinctive design on the left side of the vehicle. Although the footage indicated that it was a delivery tempo carrying four people, its registration number could not be established because of the angle at which it was parked and captured on camera.

Police teams then began searching the area for vehicles bearing the same design. The operation continued for several hours, given the large number of delivery tempos in the locality.

Around 1.30am on September 16, a team located a tempo matching the description. After making inquiries with neighbours, the officers knocked on the door of a house opposite the vehicle. The man who answered identified himself as its owner and told the police that his younger brother also drove it.

The brother, who was asleep inside, was called out. Investigators found that his build matched that of the driver seen in the CCTV footage, the chargesheet states.

During interrogation, the accused allegedly disclosed the identities of his associates, who were taken into custody by the morning of September 16.

According to the chargesheet, the accused told investigators that the 17-year-old tempo driver, who is among the accused, knew the girl.

“We also found an eye witness who had seen the truck early in the morning. He identified the accused. His statement has been attached,” the officer said.