Autopsy confirms death by hanging in Delhi’s Tilak Vihar police post case

The Aam Aadmi Party in a press conference on Monday had slammed the Delhi police for their “failure to protect a life”, even within the premises of the police station.

Two days after a 17-year-old girl allegedly hanged herself in the Tilak Vihar police post in west Delhi, the police on Tuesday received her autopsy report, which revealed that she died of asphyxia caused by hanging.

According to the autopsy report, the 17-­year-­old girl died due to asphyxia caused by hanging. (HT Photo)

Police said the panel of doctors, who conducted the autopsy, in their report have opined that the ligature mark found around the girl’s neck was “fresh and ante-mortem in nature.”

“The autopsy report also confirmed that no foul play was involved in her death,” said deputy commissioner of police (west), Vijay Kumar.

As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday targeted the Delhi Police over the girl’s suicide and termed it a “custodial death”, the police on Tuesday defended themselves, saying the girl had come to the police post on her own and she was not locked in the restroom or kept under “detention”.

“The girl had, in fact, come to seek police’s help because she feared that her family members would beat her over the alleged friendship with a man in her neighbourhood. When a fight broke out between the two families around 10.30 pm on Saturday, the girl left home and went to Fateh Nagar Gurudwara before coming to the police post around 2.30 am on Sunday,” said the DCP.

The DCP said that around 40 people from both the sides had already gathered at the police post when the girl arrived. As she feared for her safety and did not want to go home, she was asked to sit in a room near the duty officer’s cabin along with a woman constable.

“While the police staff were busy in the proceedings to send the girl to Nari Niketan, commotion between the two families started again. As women were also present in the gathering, the woman constable and two policemen went out to pacify them. During the same time, the girl locked the room from inside and hanged herself with the ceiling fan,” added Kumar.

The Aam Aadmi Party in a press conference on Monday had slammed the police for their “failure to protect a life”, even within the premises of the police station.

Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued a notice to the Delhi Police and sought explanation in the matter.

“DCW has sought information such as reasons for the presence of the girl in the police station late at night, name of the officer responsible for this lapse and action taken against him, copy of FIR in the matter, CCTV footage of the police station and details of officers on duty at the time of incident,” a statement issued by the DCW said.