Hours after a 28-year-old man was arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly raping a 20-year-old girl, locals at the Basrurkar market area in South Moti Bagh, where the accused was living alone for the past ten days, claimed that their locality, where the rape took place, often faces problems of cars illegally parked outside their homes. They claimed to have raised concerns over the safety of people, with drivers consuming liquor inside their vehicles without the fear of law.
On being asked about the accused in the Moti Bagh rape case, many residents refused to talk, claiming that their neighbourhood was getting bad name because of one individual.
locals claimed that the area is largely inhabited by employees posted with the Central Government Ministries and departments. Hours after the South Campus police arrested Avneesh from Moti Bagh area, the environment in the South Moti Bagh is rather dull after the infamous “girl raped in cab.”
According to a senior police official, Avneesh, a native of Etah in Uttar Pradesh, is married and has two children. He has been living in Delhi for the past four years at the Madrasi colony. However, he shifted to the D-block in South Moti Bagh area ten days back and started living on rent. Before he started driving the private cab of Mohit Pawar, Avneesh worked as a school cab driver.
Metres away from the spot, where the 20-year-old girl looking for a job, was raped by Avneesh, a primary New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) school is located.
Talking to The Pioneer about the issue of the safety of the schoolchildren, a teacher with the NDMC-run school said, “Since 25-30 private cab drivers park their vehicles near to the school daily, we have closed the gate. To ensure the safety of the schoolchildren, we use only one of the gates.”
A 40-year-old woman, a resident of the D-block shared that the problem of illegal parking and intoxicated cab drivers creating ruckus in the area persists despite repeated complaints to the local police.”
Another old woman, whose son is posted with the Ministry of Communication shared that she has been living in the South Moti Bagh locality for the past 12 years and there has never been any untoward incident toward the women and children.
Sighing, the woman added, “The people in the area do not step out after 9 pm. Now after this incident, families will take extra caution before letting their children especially daughters step out.”
She further said “The incident took place due to the migrant labourers who take shelter in the tenements made by the residents, who extend their flats, paving way for illegal construction.”