No trace of speech impaired woman who disappeared from Delhi Metro station

10 days after speech impaired woman went missing from Adarsh Nagar Metro station, the Delhi Metro police are yet to file an FIR or trace the woman.

Ten days after 19-year-old speech impaired Sunita went missing from Adarsh Nagar Metro station, the Delhi Metro police are yet to file an FIR or trace the woman.

10 days after speech impaired woman went missing from Adarsh Nagar Metro station,the Delhi Metro police are yet to file an FIR or trace the woman. (Sunil Ghaosh/HT Photo)

Though a daily dairy (DD) entry, an official record, was made at the Kashmere Gate Metro police station, police are yet to register an FIR.

Jitendramani Tripathi, deputy commissioner of police (Metro), said that the missing person was an adult and the complaint filed by her family did not say that she was kidnapped.

“The missing complaint was received and all requisite formalities to locate a missing person were followed to safely track down the woman and reunite her with her family members. We have already scanned CCTV footage of the Jahangirpuri Metro station where her mother lost her and of the Adarsh Nagar station where she was seen exiting through gate number-2,” said the DCP.

“Had the woman been below 18 years of age, we would have certainly converted her missing complaint into a case of kidnapping,” said Tripathi adding that different police teams are trying to trace the young woman.

A senior Delhi Metro police officer on the condition of anonymity said that the incident could have been averted had the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, who are entrusted with security on Metro premises, or Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) staff of the Adarsh Nagar station reacted after seeing Sunita attempting to exit through one of the automated fare collection (AFC) gates. The CCTV footage at the station showed Sunita exiting with other passengers hurriedly without using the Metro token. Police said the CCTV also showed Sunita attempting to exit through the gates without using the token,

Sunita’s father Ram Saran blamed the Metro staff and security personnel for his daughter’s plight. “In the video footage, my daughter is seen making four attempts to exit through the gate with other passengers. But as she was not carrying the token, all her attempts failed and the gate locked before she could exit. After sometime, she is finally seen exiting through the gate with another passenger,” Saran told HT.

The father alleges that no security alarm was raised and no security or Metro staff stopped his daughter when she made four failed attempts to exit through the AFC gate. “Everything was being captured on the camera but nobody reacted,” he said.

On the allegations, a CISF spokesperson said, “CCTV footage and necessary documents have been given to the police who are looking into the matter.”

Sunita was returning to her Haidarpur residence in the metro with her mother Suman and sister Laxmi after visiting Lok Nayak Hospital. As the train was to terminate at the Jahangirpuri station, one stop before Haidarpur, the family had to de-board and wait for another train. While Suman and Laxmi stepped out, Sunita remained inside, as the door closed and left the station.