As Delhi Police found a body in a heavily mutilated state earlier this week in the national capital's Swaroop Nagar area, they initially assumed that it belonged to a man, only to later find out it was a teen girl who was raped and murdered.
A girl, believed to be 16-year-old, was gang-raped and murdered by a group of four teenagers and her body was found dumped in a field in outer Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar.
What made the body's identification difficult were visible skeletal parts and a missing arm.
“The skull and ribcage were visible and the right arm was cut off. We couldn’t figure out whether it was a man or a woman; it appeared more to be of a middle-aged man,” an investigator said on condition of anonymity.
As stated in an earlier HT report, locals had spotted dogs and other animals attacking the body before they informed the police about it.
When was the body found?
According to a probe official, the teen was raped and murdered on September 11, her body was found two days later and cops received a call about the same at around 7:30am on September 13.
{{/usCountry}}According to a probe official, the teen was raped and murdered on September 11, her body was found two days later and cops received a call about the same at around 7:30am on September 13.
{{/usCountry}}The body's heavily mutilated condition made identification difficult.
According to the investigative officer, a pair of blue jeans, with pieces of a purple cloth on top were found on the body, which was covered in mud. The abdomen disfigured by decomposition, the face was not recognisable and the body was dumped in the area where animals attacked it, an officer said, as reported by HT earlier.
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Given that there were six stab wounds on the body, investigators assumed in the initial probe that the genitals had been chopped.
The medical report later confirmed rape.
How a tattoo became a turning point
During the initial probe, cops mistook the body to be of a man's. It was only after an officer decided to take a closer look at the mortuary that a clearer picture emerged.
"An assistant sub-inspector found a tattoo with three stars in a row on the left arm. That was the first turning point in the case as it made us consider the possibility that the body could be of a woman too,” the officer said.
Later, police visited the girl's family in Tri Nagar, which is when her brother-in-law showed some of her pictures, one of them with a tattoo. “We asked if they had any photographs of the girl. The brother-in-law showed some photos on his phone. After scanning a few, there was one with her tattoo: three stars in a row," the officer said.
Also Read: Highly decomposed body, attacked by dogs: How Delhi teen's gangrape and murder came to light
While the girl is believed to be 16, cops are planning on getting an ossification test done on the body's remains to ascertain her age, the officer said, citing the lack of ID documents from the girl's family.
No missing persons case. How cops reached girl's family
It was not before days of extensive investigation into the case that police were able to reach the girl's family. There was no missing persons complaint filed, which complicated matters further.
Police scanned CCTV footage for two days before they stumbled upon a footage that showed a vehicle reaching the spot. The contents of the clip and the design on the left side of the tempo made it clear for cops that four people were involved in the crime.
Police said that they started combing for the vehicle and around 1.30am on September 16, they found a tempo with the same design.
As probe intensified, cops caught hold of one of the accused, who confessed and shared the names of his associates during interrogation. The accused allegedly told investigators that the 17-year-old driver of the tempo and the main accused in the case knew the girl. “After they forced themselves on the girl, she said that she’d report them to the police. They decided to kill her and dump her body,” the officer said.
Police then reached out to the girl's family in Swaroop Nagar. They had been under the impression that she had gone out for a few days with her friends, and hence, didn't file a missing persons report.
A 19-year-old man had been arrested in the case, while three minors were apprehended.
(With inputs from Jignasa Sinha)