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Pillion rider with woman dragged by car escaped fearing legal hassles
Special police commissioner Sagar Preet Hooda said they now have an eyewitness and that will help them ensure strictest punishment to the accused
A woman, who was riding pillion with the 20-year-old before the latter was dragged under a car for at least two hours in Delhi and found dead in the early hours of New Year’s Day, has told police she escaped from the accident scene fearing she would get caught in legal hassles, investigators said on Tuesday.
The investigators recorded the statement of the woman, Nidhi, after a video purportedly showing the two leaving a hotel in Rohini Sector 23 at 1:31am on January 1 on her scooty surfaced.
Special police commissioner Sagar Preet Hooda said they now have an eyewitness and that will help them ensure strictest punishment to the accused. “She [Nidhi] is cooperating with the police in the investigation. In CCTV footage, Nidhi was seen accompanying the victim just before the incident. She did not sustain any injury,” he said.
An investigator said Nidhi told them the Baleno car hit them while reversing. She said she saw Anjali Kumar’s foot getting stuck in the car.
Police said that they were corroborating her statement with the confession of the five accused men. “The accused said they hit two women on a scooter. We are verifying this.”
Hooda said the investigation is still in the primary stage and that they hope to reach a conclusion soon. He refused to divulge details about the post mortem report or cause of the incident.
Another officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the call details of the 20-year-old woman and her friends were being scrutinised. “Prima facie, it appears that they were not known to the accused. The outer district police have got over 400 CCTV footages from different parts of the 14-kilometer stretch the victim was allegedly dragged by the car.”
He said police have also detained three men who celebrated New Year with the 20-year-old and her friend at the Rohini hotel. “They may also be taken for medical examination as it can unveil many hidden facts about the incident.”
The grisly death provoked outrage with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal calling for the death penalty for the five men, suspected to be drunk, in the car.
Police said the five, who were arrested for culpable homicide, in a grey Maruti Suzuki Baleno hit the woman riding the scooty in Sultanpuri. The impact entangled her body to the underside of the car.
Unaware of this, the men drove on from the accident site, dragging her body for at least 14 km. The body was later dislodged in a mangled state before local residents found it.
Questions and inconsistencies emerged about the death and how it occurred as it triggered protests.
Police on Monday said they detained the woman’s friend riding the scooty with her. The two women worked for an event management company.
Police said the five men borrowed a friend’s car and were on their way back after drinking and eating when they hit the woman in Sultanpuri.
