17-year-old was abducted during morning walk, raped by two youth

Class XI student was abducted during her morning walk and gang-raped by two youth before being rescued by locals in outer Delhi’s Aman Vihar on Sunday.

An angry mob tonsured the accused and thrashed them before the police rescued the duo. They have been arrested and booked for rape.

“Medical reports have confirmed rape. The accused are labourers and live two doors away from the victim’s home,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Ghanshyam Bansal.

The 17-year-old lives with her parents in Aman Vihar’s Prem Nagar and studies at the local school. According to her brother, she took morning walks daily.

“She left home for her walk around 5 a.m. When she failed to return for long, we began searching the locality. Soon, local residents joined us, ,” said the victim’s brother.

Someone spotted a house located very close the victim’s home in the evening that was locked from inside.

“When the entire neighbourhood was looking for the missing girl, someone staying locked inside a house aroused suspicion. There were sounds emanating from inside the house, and the lights and fans were switched on. So we entered inside forcibly,” said local resident Rehman.

Two young men were inside. While inspecting the house, the locals spotted a room locked from outside. “I peeped into the room through the window and saw someone inside. We got the room opened and found the girl. She had been bound and gagged. We rescued her,” said another local Naseem Siddiqui.

The girl claimed she was gang-raped by the two through the day and that they had bound her to prevent her from raising an alarm. The accused — Naushad and Mohammad — were subsequently dragged out by the public and thrashed. The mob tonsured them forcibly before a police team arrived at the spot.

The suspects were sent to a hospital for treatment. The police said they escaped serious injuries and have been sent to jail. A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and other sections of Indian Penal Code has been registered based on the victim’s statement.

The incident took place nearly three weeks after the body of a young woman working with a non-government organisation was found dumped in an empty plot, less than five km away from Sunday’s crime spot. Two drug addicts arrested in connection with the murder of the NGO employee had revealed they had first strangulated the woman before taking turns to rape her lifeless body.

When the entire neighbourhood was looking for the missing girl, someone staying locked inside a house aroused suspicion. There were sounds emanating from inside the house, and the lights and fans were switched on. So we entered the room forcibly