North East Delhi riots: Charge sheet filed in murder of 85-year-old woman

The 606-page charge sheet was filed before a duty magistrate in a Delhi court in the afternoon. The court has fixed the next date of hearing on June 21. All the men are presently in jail.

The Delhi Police on Sunday filed a charge sheet in the rioting and murder case of 85-year-old Akbari Begum, the only woman among the 53 people killed during the communal riots in north-east Delhi in February. Six men, including two brothers, have been charged for allegedly killing Begum by setting her four-storey house at Garmi Road in Bhajanpura on fire on February 25, crime branch officials associated with the probe said.

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The 606-page charge sheet was filed before a duty magistrate in a Delhi court in the afternoon. The court has fixed the next date of hearing on June 21. All the men are presently in jail.

Officials said that on February 25, a “riotous mob” barged into Begum’s house, on the ground and first floors of which her family members ran a garment workshop. The mob set the flammable items in the workshop on fire. The blaze soon reached the two upper floors where Begum and her family members were.

“While her family members climbed onto the rooftop and locked themselves, Begum could not escape due to her old age and subsequently died of suffocation (asphyxia due to inhalation of smoke). Her body was found on a folding bed on the second floor,” deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rajesh Deo said.

During the probe, an investigator, requesting anonymity, said they had learned that many people had captured videos and images of the violence at Begum’s house on their cellphones. The videos soon went viral on social media. The videos were procured and taken on record. The cellphones on which the videos were recorded were seized and the statements of 53 witnesses were recorded, the officer said.

“We found CCTV camera footage in which the mob that entered Begum’s house and set it on fire was seen. Six men, mostly living in Begum’s neighbourhood, were arrested on the basis of videos, statements of witnesses and technical evidence,” the officer said.

The arrested men were identified as Arun Kumar,26, his brother, Varun Kumar,22, Vishal Singh,29, Ravi Kumar,24, Prakash Chand,36, and Suraj Singh,28. They have been charged for rioting, murder, attempt to murder, dacoity with murder, arson, house trespass, and destruction of evidence under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Crime branch officers said that 752 cases were registered in connection with the north-east Delhi riots that claimed the lives of 53 people and left over 400 injured. Until Sunday, the police had filed charge sheets in 81 cases, in which more than 520 people were charged with various offences, including rioting, arson, murder and attempt to murder.

The police have also prepared their charge sheet in the murder case of head constable Rattan Lal, whose death was the first reported casualty when incidents of stone-pelting in north-east Delhi on February 23 turned into a full-blown riot the next morning. He had received a bullet wound, apart from multiple injuries to the head and body during one of many incidents of stone-pelting that took place that day. A deputy commissioner of police (DCP) was also critically injured at the same spot where Lal’s body was found. The charge sheet may be filed on Monday.