Delhi rape victim reports parents to police for taking ₹5 lakh bribe to change statement

Teenage victim was allegedly kidnapped and repeatedly gang raped in Noida and Ghaziabad last year before being release by her captors a week later.

Aware that her parents had been allegedly bribed in order to compel her to change her statement in court in a gang rape case, a 15-year-old victim approached the police with ₹5 lakh they had accepted as advance, Delhi police said.

People hold placards during a protest over crimes against women, near Rajghat in New Delhi. A minor girl’s parents allegedly accepted a bribe of ₹5 lakh to compel the rape victim to change her statement in court. (Mohd Zakir/HT File Photo)

The police were surprised that the girl chose to trust them over her parents. “The girl came with a wad of notes and said it was ₹3 lakh. But when we counted, it was ₹4.96 lakh,” MN Tiwari, deputy commissioner of police (outer), said.

Tiwari said the girl’s parents were booked under the Juvenile Justice Act and for criminal intimidation, threatening someone to give false evidence and criminal conspiracy.

“We arrested the girl’s mother. Her father is on the run. We are also looking for the people who were facilitating this crime,” the DCP said.

The girl lives with her parents in Prem Nagar, Aman Vihar in Delhi. Her parents run a small business in the neighbourhood.

The girl had gone missing on August 30 last year after which a kidnapping case was registered at the Aman Vihar police station, the DCP said.

She returned home a week later and alleged that two men, including a local property dealer, had kidnapped her.

She said she was allegedly taken to multiple places such as Noida and Ghaziabad where she was repeatedly gang raped before being let off a week later. On her complaint, the police registered a case of gang rape and arrested the two accused men. They were recently let off on bail.

“Some people known to the accused had approached her parents and offered ₹20 lakh to get the girl change her statement in court. Recently, they had given ₹5 lakh cash as advance payment. The girl was aware of it,” said an investigator.

The parents had allegedly been pressuring the girl to change her statement. But the girl refused to oblige, resulting in frequent quarrels with her parents.

“On April 10, her parents were away in court when the girl decided to report the matter to the police. She knew that the money was hidden under the bed. She picked up the cash and without counting it, reached the Prem Vihar police chowki,” said the officer.

The girl has been handed over to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), which sent her to a children’s home.