Delhi shocker: Three strangers gang up to rape mentally ill woman

The three did not know each other, but decided to rape the woman just because she was “visibly mentally unfit”, police said

The Delhi Police have arrested three people for gang raping a 34-year-old mentally ill woman, officers aware of the matter said on Thursday, weeks after she was found walking near Sarai Kale Khan on October 11, bleeding and partially clothed.

Investigators said all three were arrested last week. The woman, a resident of Odisha, is currently undergoing treatment for schizophrenia at AIIMS, they said. (Representational image)

Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Ravi Kumar Singh identified the accused as Prabhu Mahto, 28, an autorickshaw driver, Pramod Kumar alias Babu, 32, who works at a scrap dealer’s shop, and Mohammed Shamsul alias Raju, 29, a beggar who is physically challenged as he suffers from polio.

The three did not know each other, but decided to rape the woman just because she was “visibly mentally unfit”, police said.

Investigators said all three were arrested last week. The woman, a resident of Odisha, is currently undergoing treatment for schizophrenia at AIIMS, they said.

Responding to the arrests, Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi said, “Delhi Police have arrested three people in connection with the rape case and seized the autorickshaw used in the crime.”

When the police reached the spot, they took her to AIIMS where she allegedly told the doctors that she had been raped by three unknown men. “But due to her mental condition, she did not cooperate in the probe thereafter,” DCP Singh said.

A case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 70(1) (gang rape) and 115 (causing hurt) was registered on October 11, and an investigation was taken up.

First, police went through missing persons’ records and found that the woman is a resident of Puri, Odisha and was reported missing in her home state on June 9.

“It was revealed that she came to Delhi on May 9 and started living with a friend in Kishangarh. However, due to her erratic behaviour, she stopped staying with the friend and then started living off the streets,” the DCP said.

While probing the case, police said, the victim was not comfortable with sharing details of her ordeal. Therefore, police took special permission from the AIIMS Trauma Centre management, and a woman officer took cover as a social worker while another woman, originally from Odisha, took cover as nurse to take care of the woman.

Eventually, investigators said, the woman shared that she was assaulted by an autorickshaw driver and a man who couldn’t walk.

Investigators then reviewed clips of more than 700 CCTV cameras in central, south and north Delhi and discovered footage of the woman exiting the waiting hall of the Old Delhi Railway Station at 10.14pm on October 10. Her route was further examined, and with the help of technical surveillance, police traced the autorickshaw in which the woman was allegedly raped.

On October 30, police said, autorickshaw driver Mahto was arrested from near his Kotla Mubarakpur house. On his instance, Kumar, a resident of Narela, and Shamsul, a resident of Gandhi Nagar, were arrested on November 2 and 4 respectively.

During interrogation, Kumar told police that at the time of the incident, he and Shamsul were intoxicated and around midnight, both spotted the woman sitting on the roadside and though they were strangers, decided to sexually assault her because she was “visibly mentally unfit”.

At that point, police said, Mahto was crossing the area in his autorickshaw and saw the two raping the woman, and rather than raising the alarm, also joined in.

Later, police said, Mahto forced her into his autorickshaw and took her towards Sarai Kale Khan, parked the vehicle by the roadside and raped her again, before dumping her on the street and fleeing.