NewDelhi: In a shocking incident, a nine-year-old girl from an economically backward family died in mysterious circumstances in Southwest Delhi’s Old Nangal village on Sunday. According to the police, the family of the girl child has alleged that the minor was raped and murdered before she was forcefully cremated by the priest of the crematorium without the consent of the family.
Four people, including the priest, have been apprehended by the police on the charges of rape and murder based on the statement given by the victim’s mother alleging rape. According to the police, only the burnt legs of the victim was recovered from the cremation ground and have been sent for post mortem. Further investigation will take place after the autopsy report.
The shocking incident took place when the victim, who lived with her parents in the village in a rented house in front of a crematorium, went to the to get cold water from a cooler at the crematorium after informing her mother on Sunday at around 5:30 pm. Around 6 pm, the crematorium’s priest, Radhey Shyam, and two-three other people, known to the girl’s mother, called her there and showed her daughter’s body claiming that she got electrocuted while getting water from the cooler.
The priest and the others dissuaded her mother from making a PCR call, saying police will make a case out of it and during the post-mortem, doctors will steal the girl’s organs, so it was better to cremate her. The girl was cremated but later the woman with her husband raised a hue and cry that it was done without their consent. A crowd of 200 villagers gathered there and a PCR call was made from the spot at around 10:30 pm.
As per the police, there were burn marks between her left wrist and elbow, and her lips were also blue, a senior police officer said. There is no CCTV camera near the crematorium ground to ascertain the sequence of events, police said, adding that locals staged protests and blocked roads in the area.
A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) official said the spot, where the watercooler is located has been thoroughly examined as there were reports of electrocution. When checked by an electrician and analysed experts, prima facie, a heavy flow of current was observed from the cooler, the official said.
The second spot was where the victim was cremated. It was examined and tooth, fractured particles of her skull, along with parts below the ankle were recovered. These were handed over to the police which will submit the samples at the lab for further examination, according to the official.
The four arrested people are priest Radhey Shyam, Kuldeep, Laxmi Narain and Salim, police said, adding that they have been sent to judicial custody. The statement of the complainant has been recorded under section 164 of the CrPC, SC/ST Act and POCSO Act. Police said that only the legs of the deceased were recovered and it is very difficult to ascertain whether she was raped or not.
The girl’s mother has given her statement in front of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC-ST) committee and alleged that her daughter was raped. Sections 302 (murder), 376 (punishment for rape) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the India Penal Code have been added in the FIR following the mother’s statement.
Bureau Report
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