NEW DELHI: Rahul Meena, the accused in the Kailash Hills rape and murder case, pleaded guilty before a court, saying he “committed a mistake”.
The accused made the submissions before Judicial Magistrate Deepika Thakaran in the Saket court, who sent him to four days’ police custody, after the investigating agency said his interrogation was required to find the victim’s mobile phone, reconstruct the accused’s entry and exit route, and ascertain whether anyone else was involved in the crime.
“Mujhse apradh ho gaya.... Galti ho gayi (I committed a crime, made a mistake),” he told the court. The submission, however, will not be legally sustainable unless he reiterates his stand before a magistrate, who records his testimony after being satisfied that it was made without any influence or coercion.
The accused was produced in the jam-packed courtroom around 2:30 pm. During the proceedings, the magistrate also enquired about the accused’s injuries shown in the MLC (medico-legal report), to which he said he got hurt while getting down from the terrace.
He further told the court that he murdered the victim because “the deceased’s fingerprints were needed to open a locker”. Sources stated that Meena intended to rob the house to pay off his debts. Investigation so far reveals that Meena was alone while committing the crime. The victim was first raped and then killed, but the probe found that it was ‘circumstantial’.
“The investigation has found that his only intention was to take the money to return the debt. Everything else was the circumstantial happening to achieve this motive. He was not calling anyone while exiting the building. He was holding the phone to deceive people so that no one talks to him, as he knows most of the servants of that area,” sources stated.
According to the sources, the accused stayed at the hotel in Dwarka to plan his next move to escape. Meena also claimed that he had demanded the keys of the locker from the victim and attacked her when she refused.
Police stated that they have taken the accused into four days’ custody and will verify all his claims, including the robbery as the prime motive, during his sustained interrogation. Police will also recreate the entire sequence of the incident.
According to police, Meena raped the victim while she was unconscious. The accused attacked the woman repeatedly on the head with a lamp rod, leaving her critically injured. Later, he dragged her downstairs and then attempted to open a locker using her fingerprint before breaking it open with a screwdriver and stealing cash and jewellery.
When it did not open, he broke open the locker and stole approximately `2.5 lakh in cash and jewellery worth several lakhs, stuffing them into his bag. He changed his bloodstained clothes to destroy evidence and fled the spot.
Police investigation has revealed that the accused was addicted to online gaming and was under a debt of around Rs six to eight lakh, which is being suspected as the prime reason behind his arrival in Delhi and committing the crime since he knew the family.
After committing the crime, he exited Kailash Hills towards Astha Kunj Park, then reached Nehru Place, from where he took an auto-rickshaw and hid in a hotel in Dwarka. He was tracked through mobile location data, internet usage, and other digital evidence and was arrested later in the evening.
He also admitted to bringing three mobile phones from his village, selling two of them, and using one for communication. The accused also sexually assaulted a woman in Alwar the night before heading to Delhi. Police had moved a remand application seeking four days of custodial interrogation of the accused to probe the crime, terming it “heinous”.