In a significant twist to the Delhi minor rape case, the Delhi Police has submitted before the local court that there is no evidence yet to confirm whether the nine-year-old girl was raped before being killed near Delhi Cantonment in southwest Delhi earlier this month.
According to media reports, the investigating officer (IO) of the case informed the court that the disclosure statements of the four accused have revealed that two of the accused – Radhey Shyam, who worked in the crematorium, and another employee Kuldeep Singh, had raped and killed the minor victim.
The two other accused persons – Mohammed Salim and Laxmi Narayan, employees at the crematorium, had helped them in trying to cremate the deceased minor, the IO informed the court.
It is worth noting that disclosure statements of the accused before police are not permissible under any law unless supported by other evidence.
However, the IO has now informed the court that neither any statement of any eyewitness nor any other evidence, including medical or scientific, could be collected so far has confirmed whether the victim child was raped or not.
Based on the submissions of the IO, the courted passed an order saying, “At this stage, he (IO) cannot conclusively say as to whether the victim child was raped or not”.
Meanwhile, Special Judge Ashutosh Kumar has awarded Rs 2.5 lakh as interim compensation to the mother of the child for the loss of her child. However, the court did not grant further interim relief to the four accused alleged rape of the victim despite submissions from the IO.
“In view of the fact that the investigating agency itself is not sure as to whether the victim was raped or not, the interim compensation qua the same is not allowed at this stage,” the court noted.
The judge granted the liberty to the parties concerned to move a fresh application regarding compensation for rape, in case the investigating agency collects further material or comes to the conclusion that the victim child was raped.
A per the government scheme, the maximum compensation awardable in case of loss of life is Rs 10 lakh. The court had granted 25 per cent of the compensation amount as interim relief.
Delhi rape case:
Earlier on Monday, August 2, the Delhi police arrested four suspects- Radhe Shyam, Laxmi Narayan, Kuldeep and Mohammed Salim, for allegedly raping, killing and cremating a minor girl without informing her parents in South-west Delhi.
Mohammed Salim, one of the accused in the case, had faked his religious identity to get a job in the crematorium near Delhi Cantonment in southwest Delhi, where a nine-year-old girl was raped and killed by the three other accused along with Salim. Mohammed Salim had obtained a job in the cremation ground by claiming that he was a Hindu. The local residents knew Salim as one of the close associates of Radhe Shyam as he had introduced himself as either Raju or Ramu.
According to the police, the girl had come inside to fetch cold water from the crematorium’s water cooler at 5:30 pm. About half an hour later, Radhe Shyam and three workers Kuldeep Kumar, Laxmi Narain and Salim (disguised as Raju), rushed to her home to inform her mother that the child was electrocuted to death.
The accused then discouraged the family from informing the police by saying that the police would register a case and send the body for an autopsy, where the child’s vital organs will be removed and sold by doctors. However, the mother cried foul and gathered around 200 villagers after the accused forcefully cremated her daughter. The Delhi Police arrived at the spot and took the accused into custody.
The accused have been charged under sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 204 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) apart from the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the SC/ST act.
