Delhi horror: 20-year-old woman sexually assaulted, paraded through streets, four arrested

The woman was paraded by her attackers on the streets of east Delhi's Kasturba Nagar with her hair chopped, face blackened and a shoe garland around her neck.

Representational image

New Delhi: A 20-year-old woman was allegedly abducted, sexually assaulted and paraded by her attackers on the streets of east Delhi's Kasturba Nagar with her hair chopped, face blackened and a shoe garland around her neck, police said on Thursday. Four people have been arrested.

The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon. The woman was at her husband's home in Anand Vihar when the accused who lived near her mother's place in Kasturba Nagar abducted her, police said, describing the incident as the result of personal enmity.

Preliminary investigations indicate the woman and a boy belonging to the family of the accused were friends.

"The boy committed suicide in November last year and his family is now blaming the victim. They have alleged that it was because of her he took the extreme step. To extract revenge from her, they allegedly abducted her. They wanted to teach her a lesson," a senior police officer said.

"We have registered the FIR under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code. We have arrested four accused persons who all are from the same family. The victim was given counselling and medical aid as well," added R. Sathiyasundaram, DCP (Shahdara).

Condemning the attack on the woman, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was really shameful.

"How did the criminals get so much courage? I request the Union Home minister and the LG to direct police to take strict action and pay attention to the law and order situation. Delhiites won't tolerate such heinous crimes and criminals at any cost," he tweeted in Hindi.

The Delhi Commission for Women said it has sent a notice to Delhi Police seeking strict action against the accused after several videos of the woman being paraded were circulated on social media platforms.

"A 20-year-old woman was gang-raped by illegal liquor sellers who shaved her head, garlanded her with slippers and blackened her face. I am issuing a notice to Delhi Police. All criminals, including women, should be arrested and the woman and her family should be given security," DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said in a Twitter post in Hindi.
Maliwal also met the young woman and said she has wounds all over her body.

The police has denied allegations of gang-rape but said the woman was sexually assaulted by her acquaintances who are also her neighbours.

Police said they received a call at 1:18 pm on Wednesday about the incident. She was taken from Anand Vihar to Kasturba Nagar. Police rescued her from the home of the accused.
In her complaint to the police, the woman alleged that she was abducted by her acquaintances who live near her mother's place. They took her to their house where they allegedly thrashed her. She also alleged that they sexually assaulted her, chopped her hair and forcefully made her wear a garland of slippers. They then humiliated her in public by parading her, a senior police officer said.

"Teams were rushed to the spot after we found out that a group of people were parading a woman on the streets and also beating her up. The woman was forced to wear a garland of slippers and had black stains on her face. We rescued the woman, took her to the police station where she is being counselled. We contacted her family members as well. They alleged that she was abducted from her house," he said.

In the purported video of the incident, the woman can be seen being paraded by a group of people, including women who are abusing her. While she is being paraded on the street, people can also heard whistling in the background.

All the allegations levelled by both the parties are being verified and investigation is underway in the matter, said DCP Sathiyasundaram.

The DCP also tweeted about the incident saying, "An unfortunate incident of sexual assualt on a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara District."