Delhi: Woman abducted, raped in Sarita Vihar; auto driver arrested

Deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Esha Pandey said that a case of abduction and sexual assault was registered after the victim approached the Sarita Vihar police station

A 26-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl were allegedly abducted and raped in two separate cases registered in southeast Delhi -- in Sarita Vihar and Govindpuri.

Police identified the suspect as Vajid and claimed that they recovered the woman’s mobile phone and the autorickshaw used in the crime from him. (Picture for representation only)

In the first case, police said an autorickshaw driver allegedly abducted a woman passenger and raped her before stealing her phone and dropping her off at an unknown place in Sarita Vihar.

Deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Esha Pandey said that a case of abduction and sexual assault was registered after the victim approached the Sarita Vihar police station. The woman alleged that the suspect thrashed her when she resisted the rape.

Police said an FIR was registered under IPC sections 376 (rape), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 356 (assault or criminal force in attempt to commit theft of property carried by a person) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).

“The suspect was traced through CCTV footage from the spots,” said an senior police officer who did not want to named.

Police identified the suspect as Vajid (34) and claimed that they recovered the woman’s mobile phone and the autorickshaw used in the crime from him. Police said he allegedly admitted to the crime during questioning.

Investigators said the accused, who is married and has two daughters aged five and two, came to Delhi in 2010 and has been driving an autorickshaw since then.

In the second incident, a rickshaw puller allegedly lured the 12-year-old girl when she was playing with friends outside her house in Govindpuri on Monday. He allegedly took her to his rented room in nearby Sarita Vihar and sexually assaulted her.

According to police, though the suspect allegedly threatened her against talking about the incident to anyone, the girl confided in her mother, who approached the police on Wednesday.

“An FIR was registered under IPC sections 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 377 (unnatural offenses), and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,” said DCP Pandey.

Police arrested the suspect, identified as Mohommad Akub (57), on Thursday.