The 19-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped in Ghaziabad on Sunday after she was abducted in an autorickshaw, had put up a strong fight. She had managed to break an iron rod fitted inside the vehicle during her struggle, making it easy for police officials to identify the auto when they hunted for the suspects.
Despite her brave efforts in trying to fight off her alleged attackers inside the auto, she could not manage to draw the attention of either the police or other passers-by.
The teenager, a resident of Trilokpuri area in East Delhi, was allegedly abducted by three men who had stolen an autorickshaw. She was taken to a secluded field and gang-raped in Dasna area of Ghaziabad district.
Police first traced the vehicle on the basis of the description provided by the victim and identified its owner. The owner gave the description of the men who had robbed him off his vehicle, which finally helped the police to identify the real culprits.
A senior police official said that the autorickshaw with a detached steel rod was found abandoned in Dasna under the jurisdiction of Masuri police station. The owner of the auto told the police that his vehicle had been taken away by a trio. The owner, Pintu, had lodged a complaint with the police that evening itself.
The victim in her statement before the police said that she tried hard to wriggle out of the situation but was pinned down by the two accused who were sitting on either side of her on the rear seat. She managed to take the steel rod out while they were trying to force themselves upon her. The rapists had dragged her to a field and took turns in raping her. She suffered abrasions on her forehead, arms and legs, a police official involved in the investigations said.
The girl had hailed an auto-rickshaw outside the Shipra Mall in Indirapuram to return home in Trilokpuri in East Delhi. The suspects pulled up and those on the rear seat pretended to be passengers. This happened at was around 8.30 pm.
On their way to Delhi, the trio stopped at Khoda after the vehicle developed some snag but they soon proceeded after getting it repaired. Thereafter, the auto suddenly took a U-turn and sped towards Dasna. The girl immediately raised an alarm but the two persons on the rear seat with her restrained her and gagged her mouth. SP Rural, Jagdish Sharma said that the criminals were in their early twenties.
The rapists drove towards the service road of a canal near Bankey Bihari Dental College. They raped her there and then fled the spot leaving the girl there. They snatched her mobile phone and the purse that contained Rs 400 and her ATM card. The girl reached the police station around 11.30pm and lodged the complaint.
“The victim was taken for medical examination and an FIR under Sections 376, 364, 392 and 342 of IPC was registered. The police managed to identify the rapists on the basis of the description provided by driver Pintu. One Dabban was arrested by the police and he confessed to his involvement in the crime. The remaining two were identified as Vikrant and Ankit. Dabban and Ankit have been arrested and raids are being conducted to arrest Vikrant,” said Ghaziabad police chief Nitin Tiwari. They have earlier been wanted in a case of robbery as well, the SSP added.
“We are going to introduce High Visibility Jackets (HVJ) for police teams patrolling on the highways. Such jackets would help people in distress to identify cops on duty,” the SSP said.
The incident has proved that Ghaziabad police was very lax as the girl in distress could not be noticed by the policemen who were posted on the route taken by the rapists. Remedial actions were afoot, a senior police officer said when asked about the serious lapse.