NEW DELHI: A 20-year-old woman, driving a scooty, was hit by a car and dragged along for several kilometres resulting in her gruesome death. The incident took place in the wee hours of Sunday and was first reported at the Kanjhawala police station in the Rohini district of Delhi.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer Delhi) Harendra Singh said, "a PCR call was received at the Kanjhawala police station at 3.24 am in which the caller stated that a car heading towards Qutubhgarh side has a dead body tied beneath it."
The police official said the caller described the vehicle in question as a grey-coloured Baleno. "Staff deployed at pickets were alerted as well the message was flashed to search the vehicle. Constant efforts were made to trace the vehicle," the official said.
After nearly an hour, at 4.11 am, the Kanjhawala police station received another call about the body of a woman lying on the road. Subsequently, the police reached the spot and thoroughly inspected the area where the semi-naked mutilated body of the victim woman was found.
"The crime team took photographs of the area and lifted all exhibits from the scene of the crime," the DCP said, adding the body was then preserved at the mortuary of SGM hospital in Mangolpuri.
Parallelly, the police kept looking for the offending Baleno car and traced it. The five occupants of the car were identified as Deepak Khanna (26), Amit Khanna (25), Krishan (27), Mithun (26), and Manoj Mittal (27) and were apprehended.
The police have registered a case under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to a preliminary inquiry, the victim was dragged along for a few kilometres after her clothes got entangled in the car, leading to her death.
"They stated that their car met with an accident in the Sultanpuri area. The police personnel during night patrolling had already noticed a scooty in accidental condition and this information was lodged at the Sultanpuri police station at 3.53 am. Later it was learnt that the scooty belonged to the deceased woman," the official said.
DCW issues summon
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal took cognisance of the matter and issued notice to the Delhi police seeking a report by January 5.
The Commission, in its summon, asked the police to produce the list of police checkposts in the route of the car which hit the girl. "Was the car stopped by any police personnel and were the accused persons checked for alcohol intake by them? Reasons why no PCR or Police personnel stopped the car from dragging the girl for several kilometres?" the summon read.