Delhi rape case: Police arrest two more men, 20 held so far
Last month, a 20-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted and paraded with a blackened face in Shahdara.
The Delhi Police on Sunday said they have arrested two more persons in connection with the alleged abduction and rape of a 20-year-old woman in the city’s Shahdara area, reported PTI.
The woman was allegedly raped in her house on January 26 by some men. Following the incident, she was paraded on the street with her face blackened and hair chopped off. A video of the incident was widely circulated on social media, prompting authorities to intervene.
On Sunday, the police said one of the persons arrested is a 41-year-old autorickshaw driver who helped the other accused men abduct the woman, reported The Indian Express. The other person is a 43-year-old man. Earlier, his wife and two daughters were arrested and sent to judicial custody.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said the two accused persons were identified on the basis of CCTV footage, videos of the incident and the woman’s statement.
“They were on the run and have been arrested now,” Sathiyasundaram said. “We have recovered the autorickshaw that was used to abduct the woman.”
He added that so far 20 people, including four minors, have been arrested in connection with the case.
The woman had told the police that she was at her house with her two-year-old child when some of the accused persons allegedly abducted her and took her to their house. She alleged that some men raped her inside the house and the women involved in the case “instigated” them. The complainant said that the women later thrashed her with sticks.
The woman’s sister said that a man in the neighbourhood had been pursuing her but the complainant had turned down his advances. After the man died by suicide, his family blamed the woman.
The woman’s sister also alleged that she was harassed by family members of the man who died and had even filed a formal complaint but no action was taken by the police.
Last week, the Delhi Commission for Women had summoned Sathiyasundaram to appear before the panel on February 4.
The chairperson of the commission, Swati Maliwal, had said that the complainant was concerned about her and her family’s safety. She asked the police if a safe house had been arranged for them.