Man convicted for raping Danish woman in 2014, killed in street brawl

Police said Mohammad Raza, the deceased man, was killed at walking distance from the spot where he and four others gang-raped a 52-year-old Danish woman in January 2014.

A 28-year-old man who was convicted for the gang rape of a Danish woman in 2014 near New Delhi railway station was beaten to death in central Delhi’s Paharganj on Wednesday morning while out on parole, over a monetary dispute, police said on Thursday, adding they have arrested two of the four suspects.

On January 14, 2014, the Danish woman was gang-raped at knifepoint near the New Delhi railway station by a group of men when she lost her way to her hotel on the last day of her trip to India. (HT Photo)

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said three other men were also injured in the attack that was perpetrated by four men. Two of them were released from a hospital after treatment and the third is still being treated; however, none of their injuries is critical, police said.

Police said Mohammad Raza, the deceased man, was killed at walking distance from the spot where he and four others gang-raped a 52-year-old Danish woman in January 2014, but added his death had nothing to do with the offence for which he was convicted and awarded a life sentence in 2016.

“The four victims and the four assailants are all ragpickers and drug addicts. The assailants had demanded a part of Raza’s income for operating in their area, but he refused. That led to an argument and ended in an assault with iron rods and wooden sticks, which left Raza dead and the others injured,” said Sain.

Police said Raza’s in-laws told them he had been out on parole since the second wave of Covid-19 broke out in early 2021, and there is no clarity on when he was to return to jail. “We are cross-checking these claims with the jail authorities,” the officer said.

On January 14, 2014, the Danish woman was gang-raped at knifepoint near the New Delhi railway station by a group of men when she lost her way to her hotel on the last day of her trip to India. On June 10, 2016, Raza and four other accused men were convicted for the crime and sentenced to life in jail.

Police said they received information about the clash and about a man lying dead, not far from where the gang rape had happened under the jurisdiction of the Paharganj police station, at 9am on Wednesday. Three other men, Vijay Lal, Sundar Lal and Rafiq, were also found injured. They were rushed to hospital where doctors declared Raza dead on arrival.

Police said they questioned Raza’s in-laws, as well as the injured men, and discovered the role of four ragpickers in the neighbourhood. Two of them – Sunil, 36, and Sarvan, 32 – were arrested, and police are searching for the other two suspects, Guddu Rangila and Aryan, the DCP said. They have all been booked for murder and attempt to murder and the weapons allegedly used in the crime have been recovered.