Woman gang-raped inside car in Delhi, 2 nabbed

About 1,500 rape cases are registered in Delhi each year, of which less than 2% fall in this category, they said. In almost 98% of the cases, the alleged rapists are usually friends, neighbours, family members, partners or someone known to the survivor.

A 30-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped in west Delhi’s Hari Nagar by two men inside a moving car on early Monday morning, police said on Wednesday.

Police said the suspects were arrested from their homes in outer Delhi’s Ranhola, a few hours after a case was registered at the Hari Nagar police station on Monday. (Representational image)

Police said the suspects were arrested from their homes in outer Delhi’s Ranhola, a few hours after a case was registered at the Hari Nagar police station on Monday. Police said the suspects were drunk, and were driving around the area when they spotted the woman walking on the road at 3am.

Investigators said it is one of the rare rape cases in the city, in which the survivor -- who is not known or related to the accused person. About 1,500 rape cases are registered in Delhi each year, of which less than 2% fall in this category, they said. In almost 98% of the cases, the alleged rapists are usually friends, neighbours, family members, partners or someone known to the survivor.

Investigators said the woman called up the police control room at 4.30am on Monday. They said that the woman reported that she was offered a lift by two men in a car from Hari Nagar, and raped her inside the vehicle. She said that the suspects threw her outside in outer Delhi’s Nihal Vihar area.

A police team reached the spot, and took the woman to a nearby government hospital. Investigators said a medical examination of the woman has confirmed sexual assault.

A police officer involved in the probe said the woman could not tell the police the exact spot where she was offered the lift by the two suspects. She was also not aware of the route that they took to Nihal Vihar since it was dark, the officer, who asked not to be named, said.

Quoting the victim’s initial statement to the police, the officer said she left her house in west Delhi after a fight with her husband. “We had basic details. She said after she walked for some time on the road, two men in a car offered her lift. The woman said that she asked them to drop her at a nearby place,” said a second officer who is also part of the probe.

The police checked footage from the CCTVs installed in the areas mentioned by the woman, and found that she left her house around 2.45am. At 3 am, she was picked up from Hari Nagar, and was thrown out of the car at 4.25 am in Nihal Vihar – nearly 10 kms away from where she was offered the lift.

Referring to several posts on the social media about the case which mentioned that the police were fighting over jurisdiction, instead of investigating the matter, senior police officers confirmed that initially there was a confusion over the issue since Hari Nagar is part of west police district, and Nihal Vihar falls under the outer police district.

The officer added that as soon as the facts of the case became clear, the matter was resolved and the case was immediately registered at the Hari Nagar police station.

Additional DCP (West) Prashant Gautam said a case under sections 376 (D) (gang rape) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC has been registered. “Teams were immediately formed to crack the case. With the help of a technical investigation, two people were apprehended,” he said.

Investigating officers said they got the registration number of the car through CCTV footage, and found that it was registered on an address in Ranhola.

“A woman who lived at the address said her relative Vinit was using the car. We arrested Vinit and his friend Sagar. The two confessed that it was Sagar’s birthday on Christmas, and they were celebrating it on Sunday night. They confessed that they found the woman standing alone, and offered a lift after which they raped her,” one investigating officer said.

Vinit, 29, and Sagar, 20 were both referred to only by their first names in the FIR.

Police said Vinit has a criminal background. “There were four cases of robbery and other petty crimes registered against Vinit. Sagar does not have a criminal record,” said a third officer, adding that police were checking the records of the two suspects with all other stations in Delhi.

Between January 1 and November 30, Delhi reported at least 1,845 rapes, compared to 1,448 in 2020. Cases of outraging a woman’s modesty, which police tags as “eve teasing”, also increased this year with 2,193 cases being reported this year so far. Last year, 1,824 such cases were reported, according to Delhi Police data.