Woman alleges gang rape in Patiala House complex

A 25-year-old woman has alleged that she was gang-raped by three men, including her estranged husband and a lawyer, inside a chamber in central Delhi’s Patiala House district court complex on Monday evening, police said.

A 25-year-old woman has alleged that she was gang-raped by three men, including her estranged husband and a lawyer, inside a chamber in central Delhi’s Patiala House district court complex on Monday evening, police said.

HT Image

The incident came to light when the victim, a resident of east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar and a beautician, approached personnel aboard a police control room (PCR) vehicle deployed outside the Supreme Court with a verbal complaint.

“She was taken for a medical examination which confirmed sexual assault. The matter was then brought to the notice of the local police. A case has been registered at the Tilak Marg police station and efforts to nab the accused are under way,” said SBS Tyagi, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi).

The complainant, who is in the process of divorcing her husband, said she was lured to the court complex by her husband’s lawyer, one RK Chaudhary, on the pretext that her case had been transferred from the Karkardooma courts to the Patiala House district courts on Monday afternoon.

The victim has previously filed eight cases of sexual assault against various people in the past. When she reached the court complex, she told the police, she met three of her relatives— including her husband and sister-in-law—who accompanied her to Chaudhary’s chamber.

“She claims that she was offered beer by Chaudhary but she refused to consume it,” said an officer investigating the case. “Suddenly, one of them shut the doors before the three men -- including her brother-in-law and her husband -- took turns to rape her,” the officer said.

The victim was allegedly forced inside a car and driven to Pragati Maidan on the pretext of being dropped to the Metro station and was repeatedly threatened not to reveal the incident to anyone.

This was when she spotted a PCR van and approached it to lodge a complaint. She was taken to the Tilak Marg police station.

“We are investigating the matter and arrests will be made soon,” DCP Tyagi added.