Delhi: 16-Year-Old Allegedly Gang-Raped, Murdered; Four Teenagers In Custody

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by four teenagers, including three minors, before her body was dumped in a field in outer Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar, police said. A 19-year-old man has been arrested and three minors apprehended in connection with the case.

Police registered a case of murder, rape and causing disappearance of evidence based on the girl’s family statement and post-mortem findings. Investigators said one of the minors, a 17-year-old boy, was known to the victim and that she had gone to meet him on Friday.

Girl’s Body Found In Decomposed State

The girl’s body was found in a field near Kushak Road on Sunday morning after locals spotted dogs and other animals attacking it, police said. Her body was badly mutilated, with the right hand missing and the face and abdomen disfigured by decomposition.

Police said the post-mortem confirmed rape and found eight wounds on the body. Investigators also found multiple stab injuries and recovered two knives allegedly used in the crime, along with clothes worn by the accused.

The body was initially unidentified, prompting police teams to trace her identity and locate her family. Investigators later identified her with the help of local residents who knew her.

A team led by Additional DCP (Outer North) Lokeshwaran R and ACP Ravinder Ahlawat began probing the circumstances surrounding the crime and the dumping of the body.

More than 50 CCTV cameras in the area were scanned. Investigators identified footage showing a tempo moving near the field around the suspected time of the crime. Although its registration number was not clearly visible, local enquiries helped police trace the vehicle and identify its driver.

According to DCP (Outer North) Shobhit Saksena, investigators reconstructed the tempo’s route using footage from multiple CCTV cameras and local enquiries. A night-long search operation led police to the vehicle in Khadda Colony, Swaroop Nagar, during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Police Probe Sequence Of Alleged Crime

Police identified the accused as Shivam Ganesh, 19, and three minors aged 17 and 16. Investigators said the 17-year-old boy was the victim’s acquaintance and that his three friends were allegedly involved in the crime.

According to investigators, the girl went to meet the 17-year-old on Friday night. Police allege that he raped her first and that, after she threatened to report the assault, he called his friends, who allegedly overpowered and raped her.

Two officers familiar with the investigation told HT that at least three of the accused had confessed to raping the girl. Police also said the teenagers were allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Investigators allege that after the assault, the accused took the girl to a field and stabbed her several times before attempting to conceal her body with leaves and mud. Police are still investigating whether the sexual assault took place inside the tempo or at the field.

Police said the girl was a school dropout who had moved to Swaroop Nagar several years ago. She was reportedly looking for work to support her parents and had been living separately from them.

No missing-person complaint had been filed because her parents were unaware that she had left home and had been missing for two days, police said.

“The further investigation is in progress to establish the complete sequence of events, ascertain the individual role of each apprehended person, verify all available forensic and technical evidence, and examine the involvement of any other person in the offence,” Saksena said.

The recovered exhibits have been preserved for forensic examination, police said.